YouTube: https://goo.gl/Mo6uwJ
Spotify: https://goo.gl/FpqqVT
This song will bring tears to your eyes, especially if you read along with the lyrics here: http://goo.gl/vQA1Wz
Inspiration... It hits you when you're not looking. But it's this spark that lights the fire of the artist, that results in a creation that touches us.
This is Missy Higgins's reaction to the death of the Syrian refugee Alan Kurdi, you know the small boy carried from the water after the boat that was supposed to deliver his freedom did not. You can read her story here: http://goo.gl/iPOSDQ
I lost track of Missy. I loved her 2007 track "Where I Stood," but then she disappeared from the American radar screen. She went back to college, got writer's block and did a cover project, and then had a baby and did this. She identified, she's nursing.
We're all human underneath. We have compassion, but too many don't make the effort, for fear of loss. Australia has a bad record when it comes to boat refugees and America is stirred up by immigration. But can we close the doors after we've gotten in?
You might think it's a political question.
But artists come from an emotional viewpoint. They encapsulate pain and wisdom. And when you hear what they have to say...your opinion is changed.
Read the credits of today's hit music. You'll be stunned by the plethora of writers. Seems that no one can do it without help. But it's insurance more than aid. The end goal is not to get it right, but to make it profitable. Too many rough edges are shorn off. And it's the rough edges that hook us. How did music become the movie business, where everything's done by committee? Music blew up because it was the unfiltered vision of artists.
Oh, how far we've come.
And I'd be lying if I told you what hooked me was the lyrics, that came last, they were hard to make out, until I went to the website I could not understand most of them.
But the sound, the changes, they were majestic, they immediately grabbed me.
Not that "Oh Canada" is the equal of Neil Young's "Ohio," another song written in the wake of tragedy. "Oh Canada" is shy of perfect. So that means in today's world it tends to go unheard, or it hits a wall. And the end result is those who would be moved by it will never hear it.
But at least Missy Higgins was not reliant upon gatekeepers to get her message out. Today the means of production are within the hands of the proletariat, distribution too. You don't hype in advance, you just release, and then you wait for traction.
In this case I heard about "Oh Canada" from a reader. Being a Missy Higgins fan I checked it out and was immediately hooked.
"He was running from the terror with his father
Who once believed nothing could be worse"
That's what they don't tell you, that risk everybody keeps advising can leave you worse off, can devastate you. Sure, charge up your future on your credit cards, but for everyone who breaks through to success, there's even more who go bankrupt.
"So he'd handed a man two thousand precious dollars"
Are you willing to risk everything you've got?
When it's life or death you will.
"And he told his boys that Canada was waiting
There was hope upon her golden shores"
We all have hope, it's what keeps us going. Otherwise we get depressed, become drug addicts, take our own lives. We want to believe if we roll the dice we'll win, that things will work out. But this is not always the case.
"There's a million ways to justify your fear
There's a million ways to measure out your words
But the body of Alan being laid upon the sand
Tell me how do you live with that?"
How do you live with that? Do you turn a cold shoulder? Do you even know what happened? Artists are messengers, who speak truth and impact us.
And art is not about money, not about chart success, but touching souls.
In "Oh Canada" Missy Higgins touched mine.
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Saturday, 20 February 2016
Keeping Score
Money is not the only way to do this.
We admire our rich people, but we love our artists.
You get to choose, which path are you on?
Some cross over, Steven Spielberg is a good example. He's rich, influential and admirable, he may not always reach the artistic heavens, but his work touches people.
But Spielberg broke through in 1975, in a completely different era. Gerald Ford was still President, inflation had not run away with the economy, Ronald Reagan had not legitimized greed, no one ever talked about billionaires, there weren't any.
But then Michael Milken made $550 million in one year.
But they got him, indicted him and he even got cancer.
But Milken was just the first. And those who followed knew if they spread the money around, not only gave it to the politicians, but flew them around on their plane, took them on vacation (did you see that Scalia was in Texas on a free trip for someone who'd gotten a favorable ruling from the Supreme Court?), lawmakers bent to their will.
And now we accept this.
We decry the influence of the Kochs.
The right wing excoriates George Soros.
But nobody wants to fight them that hard because one day they too might be rich, and when they achieve this they want the same privileges, the same largesse, the same influence, the same lifestyle.
This is the carrot in front of their eyes, this is the American Dream.
But the lack of a ladder, never mind the influence of money in politics, has the younger generation following Bernie Sanders, who unlike Hillary Clinton never took that Wall Street money. Do you think they paid Hillary because they wanted to hear what she had to say? No, they paid for influence.
Because money trumps everything.
Or does it?
We'll have to see what inroads Bernie makes.
But one thing we know forever more is that art trumps money every day of the week. Money buys power, but not as much as art.
Assuming you exercise it.
We need a reset. Artists are not in competition with the Kardashians, that family may be famous, but it is not creating art, not in the conventional sense.
But in a society run by money, he or she who has it wins. So artists are comparing themselves with the rich, which they shouldn't do, because they're playing a different game, there's just not enough money in entertainment.
Unless you run the NFL. But does anybody expect Roger Goodell to have a legacy? One people admire? Of course not, he's the lackey of billionaires.
Is this your goal?
Kurt Cobain wouldn't take a limo, he said it wasn't punk.
And Kurt Cobain will last longer in people's memory than the tech billionaires, hell, Steve Jobs, number one, is already in the rearview mirror.
We'll all be forgotten one day.
But while you're here, what is your goal?
There's nothing wrong with accumulating wealth. If that's your path, set to it.
But if you consider yourself an artist...
An artist does not do what's expedient, but what he feels. And we all feel something, none of us are automatons, didn't you laugh when Rupert Murdoch got engaged to Jerry Hall? He's just looking for some eye candy, he's thinking with the little head, not so different from the guy on the street. Encapsulate what people feel in your art and you can own the world. Don't expect execs to laud this, but the listeners and viewers will, that's what they're hungry for.
And artists speak truth to power, they say what's right, they blow the whistle on foul play and inequity. It's hard to speak the truth when you're begging the corporation for a sponsorship. But that's putting money in front of art.
And youngsters have only grown up in this era, where music is about money. Films too. And let's be clear, both record labels and movie studios will purvey anything if it sells.
But we've been unlocked from our chains. We can now do it ourselves, we can gain control, but we rarely exercise this power.
We are not in a golden age of music. Primarily because the motivation is suspect. Stuff sounds good, but it's got the nutritional value of a candy bar.
But it doesn't have to be this way.
Your greatest asset is your mind. Your influences and education, wrapped up in your thoughts, laid down as your art. They want to sell teenagers, because they're moldable, they're satiated with toys, adults are more difficult.
And you can rail against the financial system, but ultimately artists are in control. Not only of their art, but their business. Artists could make sure fans got seats, by going to paperless, by charging what the tickets are truly worth, no one bitches that they can't get a ticket to the Stones now that they flex-price. But no one else does, because they're afraid of being labeled the rip-off they are. There's no honesty, everyone's fake, everyone's hiding behind a facade.
And then Bernie Sanders comes along and blows up the building, demonstrating money isn't everything, and if you appeal to the many as opposed to the few, you can raise just as much cash and owe little in fealty.
That's the story of the century. How the American Dream was decimated and someone who was not wishy-washy, who always stood for the same principles, stole the hearts and minds of the younger generation.
And the rich people don't like it.
And the political parties don't like it.
And the media doesn't like it.
At first they wouldn't cover Bernie and they keep saying his proposals are unrealistic.
But Bernie is giving people hope.
Like you used to get when you put on a record or sat in a darkened theatre.
You can be in the hope business, you can be in the connection business, you can even make enough of a living along the way to pay your bills.
You've just got to decide this is your path.
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We admire our rich people, but we love our artists.
You get to choose, which path are you on?
Some cross over, Steven Spielberg is a good example. He's rich, influential and admirable, he may not always reach the artistic heavens, but his work touches people.
But Spielberg broke through in 1975, in a completely different era. Gerald Ford was still President, inflation had not run away with the economy, Ronald Reagan had not legitimized greed, no one ever talked about billionaires, there weren't any.
But then Michael Milken made $550 million in one year.
But they got him, indicted him and he even got cancer.
But Milken was just the first. And those who followed knew if they spread the money around, not only gave it to the politicians, but flew them around on their plane, took them on vacation (did you see that Scalia was in Texas on a free trip for someone who'd gotten a favorable ruling from the Supreme Court?), lawmakers bent to their will.
And now we accept this.
We decry the influence of the Kochs.
The right wing excoriates George Soros.
But nobody wants to fight them that hard because one day they too might be rich, and when they achieve this they want the same privileges, the same largesse, the same influence, the same lifestyle.
This is the carrot in front of their eyes, this is the American Dream.
But the lack of a ladder, never mind the influence of money in politics, has the younger generation following Bernie Sanders, who unlike Hillary Clinton never took that Wall Street money. Do you think they paid Hillary because they wanted to hear what she had to say? No, they paid for influence.
Because money trumps everything.
Or does it?
We'll have to see what inroads Bernie makes.
But one thing we know forever more is that art trumps money every day of the week. Money buys power, but not as much as art.
Assuming you exercise it.
We need a reset. Artists are not in competition with the Kardashians, that family may be famous, but it is not creating art, not in the conventional sense.
But in a society run by money, he or she who has it wins. So artists are comparing themselves with the rich, which they shouldn't do, because they're playing a different game, there's just not enough money in entertainment.
Unless you run the NFL. But does anybody expect Roger Goodell to have a legacy? One people admire? Of course not, he's the lackey of billionaires.
Is this your goal?
Kurt Cobain wouldn't take a limo, he said it wasn't punk.
And Kurt Cobain will last longer in people's memory than the tech billionaires, hell, Steve Jobs, number one, is already in the rearview mirror.
We'll all be forgotten one day.
But while you're here, what is your goal?
There's nothing wrong with accumulating wealth. If that's your path, set to it.
But if you consider yourself an artist...
An artist does not do what's expedient, but what he feels. And we all feel something, none of us are automatons, didn't you laugh when Rupert Murdoch got engaged to Jerry Hall? He's just looking for some eye candy, he's thinking with the little head, not so different from the guy on the street. Encapsulate what people feel in your art and you can own the world. Don't expect execs to laud this, but the listeners and viewers will, that's what they're hungry for.
And artists speak truth to power, they say what's right, they blow the whistle on foul play and inequity. It's hard to speak the truth when you're begging the corporation for a sponsorship. But that's putting money in front of art.
And youngsters have only grown up in this era, where music is about money. Films too. And let's be clear, both record labels and movie studios will purvey anything if it sells.
But we've been unlocked from our chains. We can now do it ourselves, we can gain control, but we rarely exercise this power.
We are not in a golden age of music. Primarily because the motivation is suspect. Stuff sounds good, but it's got the nutritional value of a candy bar.
But it doesn't have to be this way.
Your greatest asset is your mind. Your influences and education, wrapped up in your thoughts, laid down as your art. They want to sell teenagers, because they're moldable, they're satiated with toys, adults are more difficult.
And you can rail against the financial system, but ultimately artists are in control. Not only of their art, but their business. Artists could make sure fans got seats, by going to paperless, by charging what the tickets are truly worth, no one bitches that they can't get a ticket to the Stones now that they flex-price. But no one else does, because they're afraid of being labeled the rip-off they are. There's no honesty, everyone's fake, everyone's hiding behind a facade.
And then Bernie Sanders comes along and blows up the building, demonstrating money isn't everything, and if you appeal to the many as opposed to the few, you can raise just as much cash and owe little in fealty.
That's the story of the century. How the American Dream was decimated and someone who was not wishy-washy, who always stood for the same principles, stole the hearts and minds of the younger generation.
And the rich people don't like it.
And the political parties don't like it.
And the media doesn't like it.
At first they wouldn't cover Bernie and they keep saying his proposals are unrealistic.
But Bernie is giving people hope.
Like you used to get when you put on a record or sat in a darkened theatre.
You can be in the hope business, you can be in the connection business, you can even make enough of a living along the way to pay your bills.
You've just got to decide this is your path.
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Friday, 19 February 2016
Re-Vinyl
I told you so!!!!!!!!!
Seymour Stein
_________________________________________
I watched the Dolls scene but not the rest of it, just couldn't. Mercer Arts is portrayed as a dirty dive when in fact it was pretty upscale. The main area
had a modernish bar which was surrounded by small shops and boutique stalls. There is a story that circulates that Dietrich accompanied by Bobby Short
attended a Dolls concert there. Yeah they might have been slumming but not THAT much.
Chris Stein
_________________________________________
bob;
very good.
loved the bob marcucci/brian epstein point.
in addition, as richard hell has stated elsewhere, they got the coke wrong....
Andrew Loog Oldham
_________________________________________
A-fucken- MEN
nick….
what a pleasure to read this…. i was thinking, are we the only two people who think that this is total bullshit?? or…. just done soooo badly it earns the title "bullshit"
to try and put this across like it's "the way it was" is so insulting and inaccurate, it's absurd.
AND…thank you Bob…. i'm no historian, but aside from the musical insults all through this script, and all the points you hit on,
when they said the thing about lyme disease, i was sitting thinking, wait a minute, that didn't even happen yet!!!!!
the only part that seemed like something, was when they did in dice's character Buck Rogers, a fictional character supposed to be being killed by Joe Corso, a real person,
…that, at least, felt like a Scorsese movie..
but nowhere else in that 2 hours, did i feel i was being shown anything that was true or important.
and music is both true and very important.
again, thank you Bob
A-fucken-MEN
waddy wachtel
_________________________________________
The ratings were weak and yet HBO just renewed it. I don't get it. The Mercer Arts Center collapsing during a Dolls performance should have been a vision, but it's shown as reality, which of course Cannavale's character walks away unscathed from. And as you said, there was no mania in the streets, no jumping on cars to rush a gig. Ridiculous.
Dick Wingate
_________________________________________
Stunningly lame! Casting, writing, nauseously shallow stereotypes, on and on... WTF?
Mike Greene
_________________________________________
NAIL IT, bob!!
touche, AGAIN!!
Wayne Forte
_________________________________________
You are so right. I ran Apple for a couple of years and lived it. I turned off the show halfway thru. BORING !!!
Allan Steckler
_________________________________________
My favorite boners are the attempts to replicate clothing and hairstyles and shoot in some haphazard "Scorsese/hip" look.
The only places that had this kind of vibe were the great west Hollywood gay dance emporiums of the early 80's.
Only thing period stranger is this "Aquarius/Manson" thing on the tube now. Charlie with a British accent no less! Oh yeah, that and Travolta as Shipiro.
All this and the music remains.
Vinyl indeed.
Charles Haid
_________________________________________
Clunky is right; mildly interesting from a nostalgic standpoint. But the Lyme disease was only the beginning when it came to accuracy: A cell phone that has a dial tone? Chobani yogurt in the convenience store from 197-something? Just amazingly sloppy. Six months of build-up, two hours of let-down.
Ted Doyle
_________________________________________
Many of us worked in records during that decade. There's plenty of technical advisors available - heck, the producers could have put out a call to your audience!
Like hiring retired military to advise on war pictures.
Jim Charne
_________________________________________
Hey Bob. Is this Mean Streets or Taxi Driver? Certainly not. However, if think this show was made for very late middle aged bald guys who attend insider music biz circle jerks, think again. Your quote is apt, "Stick to music."
Ritchie Gold
_________________________________________
Thank you as ALWAYS!!!!!
marc brickman
_________________________________________
Thumbs up!
Val Garay
_________________________________________
Thank you Bob. I thought I was going crazy especially when I saw the scene with the blonde A & R assistant go into a club with a BACKPACK! In the 70's, the only time I saw anyone with a backpack was in the woods camping and it had those metal bars running through it for support. What a disappointing TV premier.
David E. Parker
_________________________________________
Great insight! As someone who lived thru some of the greatest times in the music biz-I have to laugh at Vinyl but always have to keep reminding myself it's a fuckin dramatized TV show for ENTERTAINMENT!! If one more person emails or calls me and asks me if I saw the show and what did I think and was it really like that I'm gonna puke!! Enjoy it the program the same way you would enjoy watching the Sopranos or Boardwalk Empire-it is rock'n'roll eye candy!! Love the flashbacks!
Harvey Leeds
_________________________________________
Checked into my hotel room last night, flipping through TV channels, landed on "Vinyl" (first time ever seeing it). It was a scene where some record company guy was scoring some cocaine. The over-acting as he chopped his lines and then snorted it was unwatchable. I couldn't change channels fast enough.
Damon Johnson
_________________________________________
Bob,
Could not agree more. I kept waiting for it to get good, and it just... didn't.
What a disappointment.
Andrew Beck
_________________________________________
I agree with you on Vinyl and don't intend viewing more. I thought the same thing about the Peter Grant actor. The record exec/company seems to be based on Neil Bogart. Notice that the character doesn't show that he likes the music. Mick's son's band was too punk for 1973.
Harold Bronson
_________________________________________
I couldn't agree more. My wife and I watched this and she kept saying, I don't understand what's happening in this. And about halfway in she says, how long is this? So I paused and she says, wow, I thought we'd been watching this a lot longer than that. I'm not sure why we pushed through to the end. Maybe we were hoping it would make sense at some point. It made two hours seem like a long day at the office.
Dean Temple
_________________________________________
hey Bob,
you couldn't be more spot on about this. who in their right mind puts the most famous people from our collective consciousness like Bowie, Plant & Warhol in a TV show? the male characters are predictable & unlikeable, the women are beyond vapid & after spending two hours watching I realized that I don't care what happens to any of them.
the whole thing feels like a vehicle for Jagger's 30 year old son to get out of bed & I agree that HBO drooled over the Jagger/ Scorsese marquee billing. I feel like that time in NYC was so special & all this show is doing is gentrifying the musical memories of this incredible city for Middle America with just enough manufactured sin to keep the Evangelicals & Catholics turned on around the water cooler come Monday morning.
In the end, I'm not entirely sure who this show is for but I'm certainly not sticking around to find out.
writing from a very chilly Brooklyn, NY.
- Tommie Sunshine
_________________________________________
I lived this era and talent/management and I watched vinyl for the first time this week. I wore a shocked expression till I finally turned it off!
The way Bobby Cannavale even did a line of cocaine was hysterical.
I could do a much better job of content and directing and that being said .... Oye!
I loved the mid 70's era of musician struggle.
Pam Barnes
_________________________________________
I'm not sure who Vinyl's market is. I'm guessing they aren't sure either.
Empire succeeds because they know their market. It's over the top, drama infused, and fashion forward because that's the reality show generation they are going after. And getting! I work in the real urban music industry. I don't like Empire. But it's doing exactly what it was made to do: attract eyeballs, sell product, and make the producers richer.
Wendy Day
_________________________________________
Bob
it is fiction and sold as that.
Marty is brilliant and has a few musician friends too.
the real music business lived behind closed doors and
we only saw a little of it.
The music business was mostly run by Jews and Italians.
The real problems started when Wall Street got involved.
I know characters much like Bobby Cannavale.
you are too fast to judge it
Elliot Mazer
_________________________________________
Zactly!
It was not on the one.
Not happening.
I had a hard time watching it all the way thru.
Don Mizell
_________________________________________
Have you considered that you might be a little close to this? For 'real' ppl outside of the industry this is great. Agree it's a little glossy in places and too mythical and whoever cast Robert Plant as a man incapable of doing a British accent should be fired but as a show its good so far... It's too early to have such a strong opinion perhaps?
Nick New
_________________________________________
I had high hopes for Vinyl because of its creators, and I really enjoyed Boardwalk Empire and its debut episode.I went into it knowing only that Jagger's (30 year old!) son was a lead. Minutes into it I was thinking the guy in the car was a young Andrew Dice Clay. I then saw Ray Romano and decided to Google the cast. It was Ray Romano and he was very good as was Mr. Dice Clay, Mr.Cannavale, and lots of other actors in a script that was fine for setting up future scenarios. Not bad, but far from the team's finest hour.
Michael Tomasek
_________________________________________
No kidding, you don't like it, I'm for sure watching my DVR'd episodes.
Hank Arnold
_________________________________________
Right on…I lasted about 20 minutes.
Kevin Teare
_________________________________________
The promos didn't even look that strong. Scorsese is absolutely obsessed with taking every gratuitous (unnecessary) violence scene one-too-many-bloodspirts too far. Obsessed.
Agree 100% on the Robt Plant character. Awful.
Cannavale tries, I'm sure. Seems even self-assured. But yeah, his face screams bit/character part.
I watched the 1st epi on a tinny motel Tv (long story) and will rectify that Sunday. Giving it one more chance.
But, yeah, Marty is running out of 2nd chances.
Brian Mitchell
Kennett, MO
_________________________________________
Unfortunately for TV, you nailed it. In the business, Nashville disappointed and Empire just never started. I had high hopes for Vinyl.
Oh well Better Call Saul is on the dvr.
Scott Crompton
_________________________________________
Maybe "Vinyl" can be nominated for "Best Comedy" at the Emmys this year. I
certainly laughed through most of it. Hey, if "The Martian" can be nominated
for a Golden Globe in the "Best Comedy" category, why is this so far fetched?
Tom Ennis
_________________________________________
Kind of like Jeff Wald's FM, which failed badly at capturing the whole FM free form era. But at least the first 10 minutes of the morning guy racing to get to the station in time for his shift while the Steely Dan title song is driving the scene was pretty good, but then it died.
Cannavale can't roll a Benjamin properly?, the envelope of cash to a hippie DJ, the kids running over parked cars. Yuck. When you go the faithful recreation route, you'd better get your details right. I lasted 40 minutes. Marty is old and Mick can't remember what really happened, plus he went to the head of the class pretty quickly and that's a different world.
John Brodey
_________________________________________
Watched it last night and thought it was ridiculous. I saw The Dolls at Mercer and opened for the Ramones, and these eras seemed so morphed, I was lost in time. I couldn't nail down if it was supposed to be the 60's, 70's or 80's? Birth of punk and soul and Zep all at the same time? What drug were the producers doing to create this flashback of a mess?
Kate Fagan Burgun
_________________________________________
Spot on. Could not agree more. What a disappointment. A disaster.
Cinzia Zanetti
_________________________________________
Thanks Bob, That shot of kids running to the Dolls show said it all for me. Uh uh, I'm not watching this bullshit. Kids didn't run anywhere. That wasn't cool. And nobody seems cool in this show. Remember cool? It was the opposite of fool. If anything kids were trying to just stand up and walk without falling down. You know, be cool,be cool.
Owen
_________________________________________
Hey Bob,
I know these feelings well, and I analyze them a boatload. I believe that what we saw in our youth is different than what our parents and adults saw. I guess its 3 sides to every story. It could've been craziness but not in your eyes. Who was the cast in this? I prepped someone in the studio who was up for this and an Oprah movie. Kind of cool when someone comes into my studio and says mick jagger called them!!
Marc Amendola
_________________________________________
Thanks as always for nailing truth to the wall -- "VInyl" may get better in the future, but I won't be watching. "WKRP in Cincinatti" remains the only show to get even parts of the music industry right.
HBO should have just optioned the Will Hermes book, where the narrative structure is already in place for what would have been much more compelling:
http://www.amazon.com/Love-Goes-Buildings-Fire-Changed/dp/0374533547
But alas, that narrative structure has black and gay people in prominent roles, so no dice.
Eric H8
_________________________________________
Thank you for this. Ever since I saw the promos I had no idea who this was supposed to appeal to. And calling it 'Vinyl' like some kind of spurious attempt to reign in the remaining music buying public. If you want authenticity, let me recommend spending a couple hours watching "We Are The Best", a fictional account of three girls starting a punk rock band in 1980s Sweden. This movie rules.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2364975/
Cheers
Brendan Dangelo
_________________________________________
Your revue was absolutely accurate. What a piece of crap. These two should have watched a couple of episodes of Mad Men before making this......whatever this is. You know it's not very good when you don't give a crap about any of the characters. Can't see it making it past episode one. Too bad. It had the promise of a great show.
Brian Corless
_________________________________________
You are out of touch!
David Kiswiney
_________________________________________
How bad could this show be ??
IT SUCKS
And it won't get better after that lame intro episode
Joe Vitka
_________________________________________
through the first episode. So disappointing.
Tamra Grace Leina'ala Castor
_________________________________________
F Ray Romano! otherwise you nailed it as usual Bob.
Thanks
Ray D'Ariano
_________________________________________
You are
Outspoken
Judgemental
Opinionated
and Correct
Sad to see this huge labor of love and commerce be so lame and Marty, do you really have to go and bring in the mafia beatings and killings? If you were a musician, you'd be Kenny G.
I lived through this time as a kid record producer and for regular network fare, this could work, but that's not a compliment. On HBO, it looks like amateurs or formula network show runners were at the helm.
So much wrong, so little right.
(Please withhold my name, as I still work in tv and film!)
_________________________________________
Phew!!!
I was like WTF is up with the old "Charlie's Angles Rotary Cell Phones"!? :)
My wife, who is 28, was like "did they have those back then?" I said "I've only seen those on cheesy tv shows!"
I loved Dice as the radio station owner.
The muscle dude that was trying to convince Dice reminded me of my friend Peter Bennett. He's gone now but man he was such a whacked out promoter dude. Loved him to death!
Best,
James Lucente
_________________________________________
All that money, all that hype… and they couldn't pay to license real Led Zep tunes?
Hearing them open the live show with a lame cover, then mock-up a Zeppelin song for the second tune was cringe-worthy, and shows a level of cheapness that is not in line with the oodles of cash thrown at the rest of the production.
The Plant character was too effeminate, I agree - Robert Plant was a GOD, with thick lions-mane hair and cocky strut not seen before or since. They got John Bonham right but Peter Grant in real life was a hulking, pugilistic TERROR. The actor portraying him tried - close, but no cigar.
I thought having Mick Jagger attached would ensure a realistic portrayal of the era. But like Gaga trying to get Bowie right at the Grammy's, he failed miserably.
-Gil Griffith
_________________________________________
I found myself fascinated by the scenery but had to restart it like 4-5 times because it was so manic and all over the place.
Jason Hirschhorn
_________________________________________
I was screaming at the TV for 2 straight hours! Awful!
So disappointed!
But I loved Dice playing the Jerk-Off Program Director!
You nailed it Bob!
Terry Anzaldo
_________________________________________
The tell that it wasn't going to be good was the radio ads on streaming music services that hyped the show and then ended with: "Soundtrack available on Warner Records".
They want me to buy a soundtrack of songs from a T. V. show that are already free on the streaming service I'm listening too?
In 2016?
Also, can we stop with the meme that all posters of seventies rock whatever shows/movies have to have a picture of a character with mirrored sunglasses?
Peter Hollander
_________________________________________
I here you Bob. But maybe we are critical and a little too close to it because we lived it. Remember it's just entertainment. Like you said, I'm sure real wise guys probably cringed at Goodfellas and The Sopranos for inaccuracies but the new generation didn't care. Let's see what Marty and Mick come up with on the next couple episodes and see if this settles in with the viewing audience. I thought Andrew Dice Clay's portrayal of Buck Rogers was not so far off from what I remember about crazy people back then. Actually gave me the creeps and people like creepy and zombies so like when everyone hated Howard Stern at the beginning of his career, "let's see what happens next!"
Kenny Lee Lewis
_________________________________________
I could not agree more about this waste of time ...
I grew up in the village around my father, original Tarzan illustrator, Burne Hogarth
who founded the School of Visual Arts on 3rd and 23rd,
So as a city rat in the 70's, part of the punk rock scene and art scene,
I know of what I speak.
This show is completely unwatchable. Just total dreck ...
and yes totally miscast ..
Like a bad joke … if not for the terrible acting, horrible writing, poorly placed music, unbelievable script and painfully awkward cinematography
this show might still have a chance …..
Its just ALL wrong ..
Even trying to cast Zep manager Peter Grant … he was a huge man with a huge presence and he is cast as a little angry english haberdasher ..
UGGH …so much hype and it's just totally awful and makes one so UNCOMFORTABLE to watch .. I actually started to feel physically sick ..
now back to some reruns of the Sopranos to get this taste of bile out of my mouth
sincerely
Ross Hogarth
_________________________________________
Oh Bob....of course you hate Vinyl. If it's not some ode to the SoCal music scene or pseudo-country BS, so you hate it....and that's OK, it's apparently not made for you or anyone who can't appreciate that scene. You're more Fleetwood Mac than Ramones...and that's alright.
I've been in radio promotion for a lot of years, Bob and I'm a native Upstate NY'er who enjoyed going to the City as a teen to see my favorite bands (Dolls included, but never at the MAC, it caved in well before I was making trips down the Hudson) and I'm going to tell you that I enjoyed the first episode of the highly fictionalized show. I guess the difference is that I KNOW it's fictionalized and I believe that the directors, producers and writer are all well aware of it too.
It most certainly is an amped up make-believe version of the NYC music scene and the biz in the early 70's. I don't think they were going for authenticity. Both Scorcese & Winter know that the kids didn't race to the MAC for Dolls shows, but I'm sure that David Jo & Syl appreciate the notion. But I think they're plying good story-telling with small bits of truth. Bobby Cannavale plays off of some of the label heads of eras gone-by in ethnicity and bombast, you know, like Tommy Mottola, Walter Yetnikoff and Neil Bogart. The side story of the selling of the label to a German company (i.e. BMG) and the label burying returns or over-selling their chances to land a HUGE act, all ring somewhat "true" by story-telling standards to me.
Otherwise, I'd be crazy to think that in all my years as a promo man, I've never killed a station owner or even a program director...not saying I never WANTED to, but it's never happened. But one thing I'm absolutely certain is complete bullshit....No promo guy ever plied a radio programmer with cash and cocaine, not then, not now and not ever.... ;-)
Bob Reeves
Nashville, TN
_________________________________________
Thanks for your opinion on Vinyl. My husband and I are "49ers" and after watching 15 minutes of this anticipated show we looked at each other and said, "Who wrote this crap!?"
For a few minutes we reflected back on some great memories and decided that some "80's youngsters" without a clue had to have done it. "You can't fool us Martin & Mick, we were there, and we were cool."
With great disappointment we changed the channel. Thanks for backing us up Bob!
Karen Watters
_________________________________________
Dreck
Howard Glynn
_________________________________________
I'm hoping it is just the pilot and it gets better. Funny how you and I both caught the Lyme disease fuck up.
Jim Lewi
_________________________________________
I'm watching for Olivia Wilde.
But that's just me :) x
Lonn Friend
_________________________________________
It's funny, I'm not old enough to have been at Mercer Arts Centre, but I know my music history, especially as concerns NYC - and that whole scene was ridiculous in the bad way.
The faux New York Dolls was probably the best casting choice tho'...
pschase
_________________________________________
Amen. Two hours I'll never get back.
Kevin T. Browning
_________________________________________
I don't know what show you were watching. I didn't find vinyl bad at all. Give it a few episodes and then report back. I usually give a show three episodes after the premiere.
Sean Mormelo
_________________________________________
Jagger has flopped repeatedly in the filmed visual mediums. His is a live stage talent. Drama, he isn't steeled for it, unless he is in total control.
Take away that control and he is left crying when he was jailed after Redlands. And look at how lost he is in Gimme Shelter footage - when he realizes he is in over his head. Of all the people on stage at Altamont, Mick is the most reduced by the circumstances.
So it doesn't surprise that in his producer roles, the scene setting is way over the top and reeking of inauthenticity. That's who he likely is all around
Denisara
_________________________________________
Disagree, Bob. Loved Vinyl. Can't wait for Ep. 2. I'm not sure it's meant to be a documentary. More like historical fiction. Not watching to learn about the music business in the 70's.
David Rubin
_________________________________________
Call me a sucker, but I watched it by going in essentially blind ... I didn't read a ton of hype, I just wanted to see the show. And the pilot lured me in, even though there's always the risk they'll lose me if the remainder of the show doesn't hit. I take pilots as a tough, but different, beast from your typical episode. They have to set the scene while building a premise for the entire run of a show. So I refuse to judge a show by mistakes made in the first episode. And I applaud HBO for committing to a second season, which at least leaves room for them to improve on mistakes in the first. And as someone who is tired of seeing shows killed by poor ratings in one or two episodes, I always appreciate a network like HBO being willing to let viewers vote with their eyes and their money. I'll subscribe to watch Vinyl. At least it's not Arli$$.
Jonathan Sanders
_________________________________________
Wow, Thanks Bob. And I thought I was the only one who thought the show was lame. They lost me in the first few minutes with the car phone and the reference to an 8 ball. In 1973?? I did not hear that term in relation to cocaine until the late 90's. (We bought grams) and not until the late 70's. Casting was bad and the hype was way over the top. And if you are doing a show about the music industry in the early 70's why bring in the whole sub plot about the murder? It shifts the dramatic focus completely away from the times and the music. I just didn't get it. (But it was kind of nice to see Dice buy it!)
Rob Penland, Producer
_________________________________________
One of the most realistic reincarnations of the 1970s music scene I've ever seen is a brief moment in "Almost Famous" that shows Kate Hudson's character blithely dancing by herself on the floor of an auditorium after the show. It so perfectly captures the feel of those ballrooms as to be palpable. I was hoping this show would reach that height.
hyperbolium
_________________________________________
I hated it. Lead character not believable or likeable or interesting. Still, when you are one of us and you lived for and loved the music the references are fun. I will watch once more.
Michael A. Becker
_________________________________________
Agree. Agree. Agree. Agree. With everything.
Such drek! No more 'Vinyl" for me.
Trace Ordiway
_________________________________________
OMG! Horrifyingly bad. Yikes.
They got it so wrong on so many levels it's simply astonishing.
And the worst part is that it was stultifyingly boring!
Upside is one less TV show I have to follow.
Yikes again.
Greg Prestopino
_________________________________________
I love it when you articulate the thoughts going through the back of my head but just don't surface as a fully formed opinion.
Thanks Bob.
-Mike McCready
_________________________________________
As for Bob Lefsetz...
Stick to music commentary!
Julian Muia
_________________________________________
wow
long time reader, first time writer
this is finally the newsletter to get a reply
You sound old and out of touch, not Scorsese, Jagger and Winter.
This is a pilot! a PILOT! Not a real first episode. A 2 hour test.
It was created in a silo to achieve a couple particular things.
If you agree by Episode 4 it is bad still, I will abide - but we need to see what the REAL showrunners have set for this, as they were not involved in the pilot and the already picked up season 2. Scorsese now bows out - and Terence Winter who was behind 'Boardwalk Empire' takes over.
I am also a bit shocked- that you - a loyal Stern fan, didn't call out the best performance of the show, Andrew Dice Clay as the Radio man, Buck Rogers
It has nowhere to go but up.
pferioli
_________________________________________
You nailed it again. I tried really hard to like the show, I desperately wanted it to be amazing. What the hell was with those cut-scenes? The scene with the black woman singing and playing the tambourine, what the fuck!? Just trying to get as much music in as possible I guess. We also don't need a full song from the fake New York Dolls truly we do not. I could go on but you already summed it up.
Thanks as always for your thoughts.
Bob Daniel
_________________________________________
Bob ; You're missing the point. It's just a good story with some great music and interesting characters. Joe Whiting
Forget Bernie, you're the truth sayer! Thanks, Bob.
Mike Parish
_________________________________________
OK, so at least now I don't need to feel beholden to watch yet another TV show I'll have no time for.
John Hughes
_________________________________________
And the funniest thing. The OST will only be released on CD, not vinyl ;)
Kind regards
Runar @Universal Norway
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Seymour Stein
_________________________________________
I watched the Dolls scene but not the rest of it, just couldn't. Mercer Arts is portrayed as a dirty dive when in fact it was pretty upscale. The main area
had a modernish bar which was surrounded by small shops and boutique stalls. There is a story that circulates that Dietrich accompanied by Bobby Short
attended a Dolls concert there. Yeah they might have been slumming but not THAT much.
Chris Stein
_________________________________________
bob;
very good.
loved the bob marcucci/brian epstein point.
in addition, as richard hell has stated elsewhere, they got the coke wrong....
Andrew Loog Oldham
_________________________________________
A-fucken- MEN
nick….
what a pleasure to read this…. i was thinking, are we the only two people who think that this is total bullshit?? or…. just done soooo badly it earns the title "bullshit"
to try and put this across like it's "the way it was" is so insulting and inaccurate, it's absurd.
AND…thank you Bob…. i'm no historian, but aside from the musical insults all through this script, and all the points you hit on,
when they said the thing about lyme disease, i was sitting thinking, wait a minute, that didn't even happen yet!!!!!
the only part that seemed like something, was when they did in dice's character Buck Rogers, a fictional character supposed to be being killed by Joe Corso, a real person,
…that, at least, felt like a Scorsese movie..
but nowhere else in that 2 hours, did i feel i was being shown anything that was true or important.
and music is both true and very important.
again, thank you Bob
A-fucken-MEN
waddy wachtel
_________________________________________
The ratings were weak and yet HBO just renewed it. I don't get it. The Mercer Arts Center collapsing during a Dolls performance should have been a vision, but it's shown as reality, which of course Cannavale's character walks away unscathed from. And as you said, there was no mania in the streets, no jumping on cars to rush a gig. Ridiculous.
Dick Wingate
_________________________________________
Stunningly lame! Casting, writing, nauseously shallow stereotypes, on and on... WTF?
Mike Greene
_________________________________________
NAIL IT, bob!!
touche, AGAIN!!
Wayne Forte
_________________________________________
You are so right. I ran Apple for a couple of years and lived it. I turned off the show halfway thru. BORING !!!
Allan Steckler
_________________________________________
My favorite boners are the attempts to replicate clothing and hairstyles and shoot in some haphazard "Scorsese/hip" look.
The only places that had this kind of vibe were the great west Hollywood gay dance emporiums of the early 80's.
Only thing period stranger is this "Aquarius/Manson" thing on the tube now. Charlie with a British accent no less! Oh yeah, that and Travolta as Shipiro.
All this and the music remains.
Vinyl indeed.
Charles Haid
_________________________________________
Clunky is right; mildly interesting from a nostalgic standpoint. But the Lyme disease was only the beginning when it came to accuracy: A cell phone that has a dial tone? Chobani yogurt in the convenience store from 197-something? Just amazingly sloppy. Six months of build-up, two hours of let-down.
Ted Doyle
_________________________________________
Many of us worked in records during that decade. There's plenty of technical advisors available - heck, the producers could have put out a call to your audience!
Like hiring retired military to advise on war pictures.
Jim Charne
_________________________________________
Hey Bob. Is this Mean Streets or Taxi Driver? Certainly not. However, if think this show was made for very late middle aged bald guys who attend insider music biz circle jerks, think again. Your quote is apt, "Stick to music."
Ritchie Gold
_________________________________________
Thank you as ALWAYS!!!!!
marc brickman
_________________________________________
Thumbs up!
Val Garay
_________________________________________
Thank you Bob. I thought I was going crazy especially when I saw the scene with the blonde A & R assistant go into a club with a BACKPACK! In the 70's, the only time I saw anyone with a backpack was in the woods camping and it had those metal bars running through it for support. What a disappointing TV premier.
David E. Parker
_________________________________________
Great insight! As someone who lived thru some of the greatest times in the music biz-I have to laugh at Vinyl but always have to keep reminding myself it's a fuckin dramatized TV show for ENTERTAINMENT!! If one more person emails or calls me and asks me if I saw the show and what did I think and was it really like that I'm gonna puke!! Enjoy it the program the same way you would enjoy watching the Sopranos or Boardwalk Empire-it is rock'n'roll eye candy!! Love the flashbacks!
Harvey Leeds
_________________________________________
Checked into my hotel room last night, flipping through TV channels, landed on "Vinyl" (first time ever seeing it). It was a scene where some record company guy was scoring some cocaine. The over-acting as he chopped his lines and then snorted it was unwatchable. I couldn't change channels fast enough.
Damon Johnson
_________________________________________
Bob,
Could not agree more. I kept waiting for it to get good, and it just... didn't.
What a disappointment.
Andrew Beck
_________________________________________
I agree with you on Vinyl and don't intend viewing more. I thought the same thing about the Peter Grant actor. The record exec/company seems to be based on Neil Bogart. Notice that the character doesn't show that he likes the music. Mick's son's band was too punk for 1973.
Harold Bronson
_________________________________________
I couldn't agree more. My wife and I watched this and she kept saying, I don't understand what's happening in this. And about halfway in she says, how long is this? So I paused and she says, wow, I thought we'd been watching this a lot longer than that. I'm not sure why we pushed through to the end. Maybe we were hoping it would make sense at some point. It made two hours seem like a long day at the office.
Dean Temple
_________________________________________
hey Bob,
you couldn't be more spot on about this. who in their right mind puts the most famous people from our collective consciousness like Bowie, Plant & Warhol in a TV show? the male characters are predictable & unlikeable, the women are beyond vapid & after spending two hours watching I realized that I don't care what happens to any of them.
the whole thing feels like a vehicle for Jagger's 30 year old son to get out of bed & I agree that HBO drooled over the Jagger/ Scorsese marquee billing. I feel like that time in NYC was so special & all this show is doing is gentrifying the musical memories of this incredible city for Middle America with just enough manufactured sin to keep the Evangelicals & Catholics turned on around the water cooler come Monday morning.
In the end, I'm not entirely sure who this show is for but I'm certainly not sticking around to find out.
writing from a very chilly Brooklyn, NY.
- Tommie Sunshine
_________________________________________
I lived this era and talent/management and I watched vinyl for the first time this week. I wore a shocked expression till I finally turned it off!
The way Bobby Cannavale even did a line of cocaine was hysterical.
I could do a much better job of content and directing and that being said .... Oye!
I loved the mid 70's era of musician struggle.
Pam Barnes
_________________________________________
I'm not sure who Vinyl's market is. I'm guessing they aren't sure either.
Empire succeeds because they know their market. It's over the top, drama infused, and fashion forward because that's the reality show generation they are going after. And getting! I work in the real urban music industry. I don't like Empire. But it's doing exactly what it was made to do: attract eyeballs, sell product, and make the producers richer.
Wendy Day
_________________________________________
Bob
it is fiction and sold as that.
Marty is brilliant and has a few musician friends too.
the real music business lived behind closed doors and
we only saw a little of it.
The music business was mostly run by Jews and Italians.
The real problems started when Wall Street got involved.
I know characters much like Bobby Cannavale.
you are too fast to judge it
Elliot Mazer
_________________________________________
Zactly!
It was not on the one.
Not happening.
I had a hard time watching it all the way thru.
Don Mizell
_________________________________________
Have you considered that you might be a little close to this? For 'real' ppl outside of the industry this is great. Agree it's a little glossy in places and too mythical and whoever cast Robert Plant as a man incapable of doing a British accent should be fired but as a show its good so far... It's too early to have such a strong opinion perhaps?
Nick New
_________________________________________
I had high hopes for Vinyl because of its creators, and I really enjoyed Boardwalk Empire and its debut episode.I went into it knowing only that Jagger's (30 year old!) son was a lead. Minutes into it I was thinking the guy in the car was a young Andrew Dice Clay. I then saw Ray Romano and decided to Google the cast. It was Ray Romano and he was very good as was Mr. Dice Clay, Mr.Cannavale, and lots of other actors in a script that was fine for setting up future scenarios. Not bad, but far from the team's finest hour.
Michael Tomasek
_________________________________________
No kidding, you don't like it, I'm for sure watching my DVR'd episodes.
Hank Arnold
_________________________________________
Right on…I lasted about 20 minutes.
Kevin Teare
_________________________________________
The promos didn't even look that strong. Scorsese is absolutely obsessed with taking every gratuitous (unnecessary) violence scene one-too-many-bloodspirts too far. Obsessed.
Agree 100% on the Robt Plant character. Awful.
Cannavale tries, I'm sure. Seems even self-assured. But yeah, his face screams bit/character part.
I watched the 1st epi on a tinny motel Tv (long story) and will rectify that Sunday. Giving it one more chance.
But, yeah, Marty is running out of 2nd chances.
Brian Mitchell
Kennett, MO
_________________________________________
Unfortunately for TV, you nailed it. In the business, Nashville disappointed and Empire just never started. I had high hopes for Vinyl.
Oh well Better Call Saul is on the dvr.
Scott Crompton
_________________________________________
Maybe "Vinyl" can be nominated for "Best Comedy" at the Emmys this year. I
certainly laughed through most of it. Hey, if "The Martian" can be nominated
for a Golden Globe in the "Best Comedy" category, why is this so far fetched?
Tom Ennis
_________________________________________
Kind of like Jeff Wald's FM, which failed badly at capturing the whole FM free form era. But at least the first 10 minutes of the morning guy racing to get to the station in time for his shift while the Steely Dan title song is driving the scene was pretty good, but then it died.
Cannavale can't roll a Benjamin properly?, the envelope of cash to a hippie DJ, the kids running over parked cars. Yuck. When you go the faithful recreation route, you'd better get your details right. I lasted 40 minutes. Marty is old and Mick can't remember what really happened, plus he went to the head of the class pretty quickly and that's a different world.
John Brodey
_________________________________________
Watched it last night and thought it was ridiculous. I saw The Dolls at Mercer and opened for the Ramones, and these eras seemed so morphed, I was lost in time. I couldn't nail down if it was supposed to be the 60's, 70's or 80's? Birth of punk and soul and Zep all at the same time? What drug were the producers doing to create this flashback of a mess?
Kate Fagan Burgun
_________________________________________
Spot on. Could not agree more. What a disappointment. A disaster.
Cinzia Zanetti
_________________________________________
Thanks Bob, That shot of kids running to the Dolls show said it all for me. Uh uh, I'm not watching this bullshit. Kids didn't run anywhere. That wasn't cool. And nobody seems cool in this show. Remember cool? It was the opposite of fool. If anything kids were trying to just stand up and walk without falling down. You know, be cool,be cool.
Owen
_________________________________________
Hey Bob,
I know these feelings well, and I analyze them a boatload. I believe that what we saw in our youth is different than what our parents and adults saw. I guess its 3 sides to every story. It could've been craziness but not in your eyes. Who was the cast in this? I prepped someone in the studio who was up for this and an Oprah movie. Kind of cool when someone comes into my studio and says mick jagger called them!!
Marc Amendola
_________________________________________
Thanks as always for nailing truth to the wall -- "VInyl" may get better in the future, but I won't be watching. "WKRP in Cincinatti" remains the only show to get even parts of the music industry right.
HBO should have just optioned the Will Hermes book, where the narrative structure is already in place for what would have been much more compelling:
http://www.amazon.com/Love-Goes-Buildings-Fire-Changed/dp/0374533547
But alas, that narrative structure has black and gay people in prominent roles, so no dice.
Eric H8
_________________________________________
Thank you for this. Ever since I saw the promos I had no idea who this was supposed to appeal to. And calling it 'Vinyl' like some kind of spurious attempt to reign in the remaining music buying public. If you want authenticity, let me recommend spending a couple hours watching "We Are The Best", a fictional account of three girls starting a punk rock band in 1980s Sweden. This movie rules.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2364975/
Cheers
Brendan Dangelo
_________________________________________
Your revue was absolutely accurate. What a piece of crap. These two should have watched a couple of episodes of Mad Men before making this......whatever this is. You know it's not very good when you don't give a crap about any of the characters. Can't see it making it past episode one. Too bad. It had the promise of a great show.
Brian Corless
_________________________________________
You are out of touch!
David Kiswiney
_________________________________________
How bad could this show be ??
IT SUCKS
And it won't get better after that lame intro episode
Joe Vitka
_________________________________________
through the first episode. So disappointing.
Tamra Grace Leina'ala Castor
_________________________________________
F Ray Romano! otherwise you nailed it as usual Bob.
Thanks
Ray D'Ariano
_________________________________________
You are
Outspoken
Judgemental
Opinionated
and Correct
Sad to see this huge labor of love and commerce be so lame and Marty, do you really have to go and bring in the mafia beatings and killings? If you were a musician, you'd be Kenny G.
I lived through this time as a kid record producer and for regular network fare, this could work, but that's not a compliment. On HBO, it looks like amateurs or formula network show runners were at the helm.
So much wrong, so little right.
(Please withhold my name, as I still work in tv and film!)
_________________________________________
Phew!!!
I was like WTF is up with the old "Charlie's Angles Rotary Cell Phones"!? :)
My wife, who is 28, was like "did they have those back then?" I said "I've only seen those on cheesy tv shows!"
I loved Dice as the radio station owner.
The muscle dude that was trying to convince Dice reminded me of my friend Peter Bennett. He's gone now but man he was such a whacked out promoter dude. Loved him to death!
Best,
James Lucente
_________________________________________
All that money, all that hype… and they couldn't pay to license real Led Zep tunes?
Hearing them open the live show with a lame cover, then mock-up a Zeppelin song for the second tune was cringe-worthy, and shows a level of cheapness that is not in line with the oodles of cash thrown at the rest of the production.
The Plant character was too effeminate, I agree - Robert Plant was a GOD, with thick lions-mane hair and cocky strut not seen before or since. They got John Bonham right but Peter Grant in real life was a hulking, pugilistic TERROR. The actor portraying him tried - close, but no cigar.
I thought having Mick Jagger attached would ensure a realistic portrayal of the era. But like Gaga trying to get Bowie right at the Grammy's, he failed miserably.
-Gil Griffith
_________________________________________
I found myself fascinated by the scenery but had to restart it like 4-5 times because it was so manic and all over the place.
Jason Hirschhorn
_________________________________________
I was screaming at the TV for 2 straight hours! Awful!
So disappointed!
But I loved Dice playing the Jerk-Off Program Director!
You nailed it Bob!
Terry Anzaldo
_________________________________________
The tell that it wasn't going to be good was the radio ads on streaming music services that hyped the show and then ended with: "Soundtrack available on Warner Records".
They want me to buy a soundtrack of songs from a T. V. show that are already free on the streaming service I'm listening too?
In 2016?
Also, can we stop with the meme that all posters of seventies rock whatever shows/movies have to have a picture of a character with mirrored sunglasses?
Peter Hollander
_________________________________________
I here you Bob. But maybe we are critical and a little too close to it because we lived it. Remember it's just entertainment. Like you said, I'm sure real wise guys probably cringed at Goodfellas and The Sopranos for inaccuracies but the new generation didn't care. Let's see what Marty and Mick come up with on the next couple episodes and see if this settles in with the viewing audience. I thought Andrew Dice Clay's portrayal of Buck Rogers was not so far off from what I remember about crazy people back then. Actually gave me the creeps and people like creepy and zombies so like when everyone hated Howard Stern at the beginning of his career, "let's see what happens next!"
Kenny Lee Lewis
_________________________________________
I could not agree more about this waste of time ...
I grew up in the village around my father, original Tarzan illustrator, Burne Hogarth
who founded the School of Visual Arts on 3rd and 23rd,
So as a city rat in the 70's, part of the punk rock scene and art scene,
I know of what I speak.
This show is completely unwatchable. Just total dreck ...
and yes totally miscast ..
Like a bad joke … if not for the terrible acting, horrible writing, poorly placed music, unbelievable script and painfully awkward cinematography
this show might still have a chance …..
Its just ALL wrong ..
Even trying to cast Zep manager Peter Grant … he was a huge man with a huge presence and he is cast as a little angry english haberdasher ..
UGGH …so much hype and it's just totally awful and makes one so UNCOMFORTABLE to watch .. I actually started to feel physically sick ..
now back to some reruns of the Sopranos to get this taste of bile out of my mouth
sincerely
Ross Hogarth
_________________________________________
Oh Bob....of course you hate Vinyl. If it's not some ode to the SoCal music scene or pseudo-country BS, so you hate it....and that's OK, it's apparently not made for you or anyone who can't appreciate that scene. You're more Fleetwood Mac than Ramones...and that's alright.
I've been in radio promotion for a lot of years, Bob and I'm a native Upstate NY'er who enjoyed going to the City as a teen to see my favorite bands (Dolls included, but never at the MAC, it caved in well before I was making trips down the Hudson) and I'm going to tell you that I enjoyed the first episode of the highly fictionalized show. I guess the difference is that I KNOW it's fictionalized and I believe that the directors, producers and writer are all well aware of it too.
It most certainly is an amped up make-believe version of the NYC music scene and the biz in the early 70's. I don't think they were going for authenticity. Both Scorcese & Winter know that the kids didn't race to the MAC for Dolls shows, but I'm sure that David Jo & Syl appreciate the notion. But I think they're plying good story-telling with small bits of truth. Bobby Cannavale plays off of some of the label heads of eras gone-by in ethnicity and bombast, you know, like Tommy Mottola, Walter Yetnikoff and Neil Bogart. The side story of the selling of the label to a German company (i.e. BMG) and the label burying returns or over-selling their chances to land a HUGE act, all ring somewhat "true" by story-telling standards to me.
Otherwise, I'd be crazy to think that in all my years as a promo man, I've never killed a station owner or even a program director...not saying I never WANTED to, but it's never happened. But one thing I'm absolutely certain is complete bullshit....No promo guy ever plied a radio programmer with cash and cocaine, not then, not now and not ever.... ;-)
Bob Reeves
Nashville, TN
_________________________________________
Thanks for your opinion on Vinyl. My husband and I are "49ers" and after watching 15 minutes of this anticipated show we looked at each other and said, "Who wrote this crap!?"
For a few minutes we reflected back on some great memories and decided that some "80's youngsters" without a clue had to have done it. "You can't fool us Martin & Mick, we were there, and we were cool."
With great disappointment we changed the channel. Thanks for backing us up Bob!
Karen Watters
_________________________________________
Dreck
Howard Glynn
_________________________________________
I'm hoping it is just the pilot and it gets better. Funny how you and I both caught the Lyme disease fuck up.
Jim Lewi
_________________________________________
I'm watching for Olivia Wilde.
But that's just me :) x
Lonn Friend
_________________________________________
It's funny, I'm not old enough to have been at Mercer Arts Centre, but I know my music history, especially as concerns NYC - and that whole scene was ridiculous in the bad way.
The faux New York Dolls was probably the best casting choice tho'...
pschase
_________________________________________
Amen. Two hours I'll never get back.
Kevin T. Browning
_________________________________________
I don't know what show you were watching. I didn't find vinyl bad at all. Give it a few episodes and then report back. I usually give a show three episodes after the premiere.
Sean Mormelo
_________________________________________
Jagger has flopped repeatedly in the filmed visual mediums. His is a live stage talent. Drama, he isn't steeled for it, unless he is in total control.
Take away that control and he is left crying when he was jailed after Redlands. And look at how lost he is in Gimme Shelter footage - when he realizes he is in over his head. Of all the people on stage at Altamont, Mick is the most reduced by the circumstances.
So it doesn't surprise that in his producer roles, the scene setting is way over the top and reeking of inauthenticity. That's who he likely is all around
Denisara
_________________________________________
Disagree, Bob. Loved Vinyl. Can't wait for Ep. 2. I'm not sure it's meant to be a documentary. More like historical fiction. Not watching to learn about the music business in the 70's.
David Rubin
_________________________________________
Call me a sucker, but I watched it by going in essentially blind ... I didn't read a ton of hype, I just wanted to see the show. And the pilot lured me in, even though there's always the risk they'll lose me if the remainder of the show doesn't hit. I take pilots as a tough, but different, beast from your typical episode. They have to set the scene while building a premise for the entire run of a show. So I refuse to judge a show by mistakes made in the first episode. And I applaud HBO for committing to a second season, which at least leaves room for them to improve on mistakes in the first. And as someone who is tired of seeing shows killed by poor ratings in one or two episodes, I always appreciate a network like HBO being willing to let viewers vote with their eyes and their money. I'll subscribe to watch Vinyl. At least it's not Arli$$.
Jonathan Sanders
_________________________________________
Wow, Thanks Bob. And I thought I was the only one who thought the show was lame. They lost me in the first few minutes with the car phone and the reference to an 8 ball. In 1973?? I did not hear that term in relation to cocaine until the late 90's. (We bought grams) and not until the late 70's. Casting was bad and the hype was way over the top. And if you are doing a show about the music industry in the early 70's why bring in the whole sub plot about the murder? It shifts the dramatic focus completely away from the times and the music. I just didn't get it. (But it was kind of nice to see Dice buy it!)
Rob Penland, Producer
_________________________________________
One of the most realistic reincarnations of the 1970s music scene I've ever seen is a brief moment in "Almost Famous" that shows Kate Hudson's character blithely dancing by herself on the floor of an auditorium after the show. It so perfectly captures the feel of those ballrooms as to be palpable. I was hoping this show would reach that height.
hyperbolium
_________________________________________
I hated it. Lead character not believable or likeable or interesting. Still, when you are one of us and you lived for and loved the music the references are fun. I will watch once more.
Michael A. Becker
_________________________________________
Agree. Agree. Agree. Agree. With everything.
Such drek! No more 'Vinyl" for me.
Trace Ordiway
_________________________________________
OMG! Horrifyingly bad. Yikes.
They got it so wrong on so many levels it's simply astonishing.
And the worst part is that it was stultifyingly boring!
Upside is one less TV show I have to follow.
Yikes again.
Greg Prestopino
_________________________________________
I love it when you articulate the thoughts going through the back of my head but just don't surface as a fully formed opinion.
Thanks Bob.
-Mike McCready
_________________________________________
As for Bob Lefsetz...
Stick to music commentary!
Julian Muia
_________________________________________
wow
long time reader, first time writer
this is finally the newsletter to get a reply
You sound old and out of touch, not Scorsese, Jagger and Winter.
This is a pilot! a PILOT! Not a real first episode. A 2 hour test.
It was created in a silo to achieve a couple particular things.
If you agree by Episode 4 it is bad still, I will abide - but we need to see what the REAL showrunners have set for this, as they were not involved in the pilot and the already picked up season 2. Scorsese now bows out - and Terence Winter who was behind 'Boardwalk Empire' takes over.
I am also a bit shocked- that you - a loyal Stern fan, didn't call out the best performance of the show, Andrew Dice Clay as the Radio man, Buck Rogers
It has nowhere to go but up.
pferioli
_________________________________________
You nailed it again. I tried really hard to like the show, I desperately wanted it to be amazing. What the hell was with those cut-scenes? The scene with the black woman singing and playing the tambourine, what the fuck!? Just trying to get as much music in as possible I guess. We also don't need a full song from the fake New York Dolls truly we do not. I could go on but you already summed it up.
Thanks as always for your thoughts.
Bob Daniel
_________________________________________
Bob ; You're missing the point. It's just a good story with some great music and interesting characters. Joe Whiting
Forget Bernie, you're the truth sayer! Thanks, Bob.
Mike Parish
_________________________________________
OK, so at least now I don't need to feel beholden to watch yet another TV show I'll have no time for.
John Hughes
_________________________________________
And the funniest thing. The OST will only be released on CD, not vinyl ;)
Kind regards
Runar @Universal Norway
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Vinyl
How could this show be this bad? Are Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger really this out of touch? As for Terence Winter, he was involved with the "Sopranos," I guess that proves that David Chase was the genius there.
I lived through 1973. Although there were no cell phones, there was plenty of boredom, the world was not hoppin' and poppin' 24/7. Sure, the Dolls played the Mercer Arts Center, but there was no mania in the streets, certainly not kids running to the venue like they are in the beginning of this production so lame you sit there with your jaw dropped open.
It's 2016. We've come full circle. Truth, justice and the American Way have returned. We want veracity, credibility and honesty. Bernie Sanders, a septuagenarian, has locked up the youth vote by speaking the truth and these counterculture heroes, Marty and Mick, have cooked up this dreck?
First and foremost, it was miscast. We never believe Bobby Cannavale as a record exec. He rings false. And casting is everything. It even supersedes script.
Which in this case is so busy being faithful to what was that it ends up being disloyal to life. Nobody acts this way. Except for maybe Ray Romano, who nails the promo exec.
Yes, there are moments. Even insights. But there's so much scenery chewing and plot points played as real that never could be that you wince.
As for the wall to wall rock and roll soundtrack... We learned decades ago that this does not make a hit movie, why would someone believe it would succeed on TV?
And, trying to pepper the story with endless references to the era, illustrating how faithful the show is, they talk about lyme disease in Greenwich years before it was a factor. And I'd let that slide if this show had any heart, any truth, instead of trying to get us all excited as an accurate portrayal of what once was.
The reason the "Sopranos" succeeded, was because they threw out the Mafia cookbook. You know, the one with too many "dems" and "dose" wherein tough guys shot each other. Tony was just another suburban denizen...with an edge. The juxtaposition with crime and normalcy was infectious. Tony could take his daughter on a college tour and still strangle an old member of the Mob along the way.
You know what they say in Hollywood, "What have you done for me lately?" And despite being legends, Scorsese and Jagger haven't done much, the people greenlighting this fiasco were mesmerized by their fame. As for musical TV shows, "Empire" is over the top, that was an artistic choice that succeeded, here they're playing for accuracy and coming nowhere near it.
As for having youngsters play oldsters... Although the Peter Grant character does a good job of threatening the label people, he's too short and not paunchy enough and not imposing enough, he acts scary, he just ISN'T scary. And Robert Plant looks like a poof. A weakling who couldn't get David Bowie in bed.
This is not the way it was.
There was dope and drink, there was crime, but music drove the culture, the acts were gods, and despite ripping the artists off, the execs were enthralled and threatened by them.
I don't know if that era can come back, too much light shines today. We're moving towards transparency, however reluctant the oldsters might be. You just can't do anything illicit anymore. The groupie at the Edgewater Inn would sell mudshark pictures to TMZ.
Then again, we've got acts for the modern age. All flash and no substance. Any rough edges have either been rubbed off or exaggerated to generate press. Kanye's antics resemble the manipulations of Bob Marcucci more than Brian Epstein, it's about idolmakers. And the press is little better than "16" magazine. Kanye spews a litany of untruths, the writers repeat them, few hear the album and it's lauded as genius. Huh? As for Taylor Swift reacting to Yeezy at the Grammy Awards, that resembles something out of "Mean Girls" more than modern society. Are you that thin-skinned?
So don't waste your time.
I'm just mad I had to listen to a year's worth of hype on such a lame effort.
But that's today, where they throw it against the wall, promote the hell out of it, and if it doesn't stick, they just sell something else the very next day.
No wonder every kid believes he's a star. They've got more gravitas than these two-dimensional "brands" with no soul that'll do anything for the money.
I always thought Scorsese was overrated. He's bad with arc, but he used to get the feel right.
But here he's lost his touch.
As for Mick Jagger...
Stick to music!
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I lived through 1973. Although there were no cell phones, there was plenty of boredom, the world was not hoppin' and poppin' 24/7. Sure, the Dolls played the Mercer Arts Center, but there was no mania in the streets, certainly not kids running to the venue like they are in the beginning of this production so lame you sit there with your jaw dropped open.
It's 2016. We've come full circle. Truth, justice and the American Way have returned. We want veracity, credibility and honesty. Bernie Sanders, a septuagenarian, has locked up the youth vote by speaking the truth and these counterculture heroes, Marty and Mick, have cooked up this dreck?
First and foremost, it was miscast. We never believe Bobby Cannavale as a record exec. He rings false. And casting is everything. It even supersedes script.
Which in this case is so busy being faithful to what was that it ends up being disloyal to life. Nobody acts this way. Except for maybe Ray Romano, who nails the promo exec.
Yes, there are moments. Even insights. But there's so much scenery chewing and plot points played as real that never could be that you wince.
As for the wall to wall rock and roll soundtrack... We learned decades ago that this does not make a hit movie, why would someone believe it would succeed on TV?
And, trying to pepper the story with endless references to the era, illustrating how faithful the show is, they talk about lyme disease in Greenwich years before it was a factor. And I'd let that slide if this show had any heart, any truth, instead of trying to get us all excited as an accurate portrayal of what once was.
The reason the "Sopranos" succeeded, was because they threw out the Mafia cookbook. You know, the one with too many "dems" and "dose" wherein tough guys shot each other. Tony was just another suburban denizen...with an edge. The juxtaposition with crime and normalcy was infectious. Tony could take his daughter on a college tour and still strangle an old member of the Mob along the way.
You know what they say in Hollywood, "What have you done for me lately?" And despite being legends, Scorsese and Jagger haven't done much, the people greenlighting this fiasco were mesmerized by their fame. As for musical TV shows, "Empire" is over the top, that was an artistic choice that succeeded, here they're playing for accuracy and coming nowhere near it.
As for having youngsters play oldsters... Although the Peter Grant character does a good job of threatening the label people, he's too short and not paunchy enough and not imposing enough, he acts scary, he just ISN'T scary. And Robert Plant looks like a poof. A weakling who couldn't get David Bowie in bed.
This is not the way it was.
There was dope and drink, there was crime, but music drove the culture, the acts were gods, and despite ripping the artists off, the execs were enthralled and threatened by them.
I don't know if that era can come back, too much light shines today. We're moving towards transparency, however reluctant the oldsters might be. You just can't do anything illicit anymore. The groupie at the Edgewater Inn would sell mudshark pictures to TMZ.
Then again, we've got acts for the modern age. All flash and no substance. Any rough edges have either been rubbed off or exaggerated to generate press. Kanye's antics resemble the manipulations of Bob Marcucci more than Brian Epstein, it's about idolmakers. And the press is little better than "16" magazine. Kanye spews a litany of untruths, the writers repeat them, few hear the album and it's lauded as genius. Huh? As for Taylor Swift reacting to Yeezy at the Grammy Awards, that resembles something out of "Mean Girls" more than modern society. Are you that thin-skinned?
So don't waste your time.
I'm just mad I had to listen to a year's worth of hype on such a lame effort.
But that's today, where they throw it against the wall, promote the hell out of it, and if it doesn't stick, they just sell something else the very next day.
No wonder every kid believes he's a star. They've got more gravitas than these two-dimensional "brands" with no soul that'll do anything for the money.
I always thought Scorsese was overrated. He's bad with arc, but he used to get the feel right.
But here he's lost his touch.
As for Mick Jagger...
Stick to music!
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Wednesday, 17 February 2016
Today's Life Lessons
1. You can't make it alone. No one is complete, everyone needs help and guidance.
2. Be the best you you can be, that's your only hope, don't try to be someone else, it's your uniqueness that's your calling card. Your goal is to be yourself and then to glom on to someone who can complement your greatness and beam you into the stratosphere...assuming that's where you want to go, that's not the only goal, happiness is key, sometimes a little is enough.
3. Don't sand off your rough edges, learn how to get along, but don't aspire to be a namby-pamby wuss without opinions. We gravitate to those with edges, who express what we feel but cannot say.
4. Getting it right is worth a lot. Most people don't try that hard. Others try to do it just like everybody else. Your goal is to fulfill your vision and get it right for yourself. When you do, others will resonate.
5. Introverts need extroverts, opposites attract, look for someone to fill the holes you cannot. (This is an analogue of #1, but it bears repeating in a society where everybody's trying to be someone they are not.)
6. Leave the house. Even if you're not sure you want to go. Online is a facsimile of life. You can only truly be alive when you interact with other people. You never know what will happen, assuming you are playing.
7. Everybody hates failure and loss. The key is to put yourself in uncomfortable situations. Once you do this you'll find out the good results outweigh the bad, and then you will be empowered to take new risks.
8. Everybody is lonely too. If you're honest and forthright you might be able to make a connection. Be vulnerable, people are attracted to that.
9. For every person who doesn't remember meeting you, who doesn't say hi, there are many who remember every word you said and are eager to interact with you again.
10. Those who talk longest are unaware they're wasting your time. Learn how to extract yourself gracefully from these one-sided conversations.
11. If something is great, no length is too long. If something is bad, any length is too long.
12. Be in the mix. (This is an analogue of #6. Not only do you need to go, you need to interact. If you're waiting for people to engage with you you're missing out.)
13. You have unknown fans. Stay the course, they'll ultimately surface and support you.
14. Some people refuse to deliver bad news, so they have others do it for them. Be sure to know where the bad news is coming from.
15. Just because someone's cute and a good conversationalist, that does not mean they'll be a good mate. You're looking for someone with perseverance, who will also call you on your b.s. One of the greatest predictors of commitment is credit rating. ("Credit Scores and Committed Relationships": http://1.usa.gov/1PC9Ken)
16. Some people need to put you down to feel good about themselves. Ignore them.
17. Some people are full of pipe dreams, they tell a good story but nothing ever comes to fruition. Ignore them.
18. Deciding who to follow is one of the big games/choices of life. The people you associate with will determine your future.
19. Many famous people you hate you will like when you finally meet them, but not all. Don't equate image with reality.
20. One day you'll wake up and realize those people you saw every day...you never see them anymore.
21. Life is about exhilaration. We're in constant search of it and we adhere and attach to those who provide it. We don't want you to play to us, we want you to follow your own muse and shine so brightly that we can bask in your beacon.
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2. Be the best you you can be, that's your only hope, don't try to be someone else, it's your uniqueness that's your calling card. Your goal is to be yourself and then to glom on to someone who can complement your greatness and beam you into the stratosphere...assuming that's where you want to go, that's not the only goal, happiness is key, sometimes a little is enough.
3. Don't sand off your rough edges, learn how to get along, but don't aspire to be a namby-pamby wuss without opinions. We gravitate to those with edges, who express what we feel but cannot say.
4. Getting it right is worth a lot. Most people don't try that hard. Others try to do it just like everybody else. Your goal is to fulfill your vision and get it right for yourself. When you do, others will resonate.
5. Introverts need extroverts, opposites attract, look for someone to fill the holes you cannot. (This is an analogue of #1, but it bears repeating in a society where everybody's trying to be someone they are not.)
6. Leave the house. Even if you're not sure you want to go. Online is a facsimile of life. You can only truly be alive when you interact with other people. You never know what will happen, assuming you are playing.
7. Everybody hates failure and loss. The key is to put yourself in uncomfortable situations. Once you do this you'll find out the good results outweigh the bad, and then you will be empowered to take new risks.
8. Everybody is lonely too. If you're honest and forthright you might be able to make a connection. Be vulnerable, people are attracted to that.
9. For every person who doesn't remember meeting you, who doesn't say hi, there are many who remember every word you said and are eager to interact with you again.
10. Those who talk longest are unaware they're wasting your time. Learn how to extract yourself gracefully from these one-sided conversations.
11. If something is great, no length is too long. If something is bad, any length is too long.
12. Be in the mix. (This is an analogue of #6. Not only do you need to go, you need to interact. If you're waiting for people to engage with you you're missing out.)
13. You have unknown fans. Stay the course, they'll ultimately surface and support you.
14. Some people refuse to deliver bad news, so they have others do it for them. Be sure to know where the bad news is coming from.
15. Just because someone's cute and a good conversationalist, that does not mean they'll be a good mate. You're looking for someone with perseverance, who will also call you on your b.s. One of the greatest predictors of commitment is credit rating. ("Credit Scores and Committed Relationships": http://1.usa.gov/1PC9Ken)
16. Some people need to put you down to feel good about themselves. Ignore them.
17. Some people are full of pipe dreams, they tell a good story but nothing ever comes to fruition. Ignore them.
18. Deciding who to follow is one of the big games/choices of life. The people you associate with will determine your future.
19. Many famous people you hate you will like when you finally meet them, but not all. Don't equate image with reality.
20. One day you'll wake up and realize those people you saw every day...you never see them anymore.
21. Life is about exhilaration. We're in constant search of it and we adhere and attach to those who provide it. We don't want you to play to us, we want you to follow your own muse and shine so brightly that we can bask in your beacon.
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Tuesday, 16 February 2016
Old Versus New
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
Labels were searching for talent, they felt if you were good enough, even if nothing like anything else, they could find a market for you.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
They just want something they can sell, hopefully just like everything else that is successful.
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
They built it.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
They want you to build it, their role is just to blow it up.
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
You had to be true to yourself.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
You're true to the buck, you follow it wherever it may go.
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
The story was the music.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
The story is the story, who you are, what you stand for, who you're dating, what tech companies you've invested in. The hardest thing to do is to get someone to click to hear your music. The audience is immune to hype. But people are constantly grazing for information, if you're part of the discussion continually people will eventually click to find out what your music is all about. But you only get one chance. No one's got any time. They want to know enough to form an opinion, but they don't want to spend hours listening to your tunes to find out they don't like you that much.
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
It was about the music. Sure, money was important, but only the most successful acts got rich and prior to Tommy Mottola the exec was secondary to the performer.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
It's about the money. And secondarily the fame. No one is interested unless you can generate bucks, right away. If you don't have this ability, don't bother to sell yourself, no one cares. Especially promoters. Used to be the labels subsidized club dates, building your career. But that went out with Napster...if you think the promoter wants to lose money, why don't you light a match to a wad of bills, see how it feels.
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
Let you find your way.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
Wants you fully formed, it wants no experimentation, no finding of your way on their dime. They're only interested once you've proven the concept, data is everything, how many followers, how many streams, they want no one wet behind the ears,
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
Believed in artist development. CREATIVE artist development. A business story, wherein you gain more fans and traction is CAREER development, don't confuse the two.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
The acts come and go, the execs remain, they want to milk what you've got now as opposed to worrying about where you're gonna be in the future.
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
They wanted to sign no one who didn't write.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
They want you to write with others. There's too much money at risk to promote secondary songs. Furthermore, competition is fierce, with everything at everybody's fingertips, the entire history of recorded music, you've got to be just as good as the classics, the bar is ever higher. If you think you're good enough, you probably don't know what great is. Furthermore, as much as you hate the pros, it's their business to pick hits. The internet was supposed to unearth tons of unsigned talent that was gonna decimate the majors... It didn't happen. Turned out the labels were good at flushing out talent and there's only so much greatness to go around.
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
You could say no.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
Everybody says yes all the time, otherwise their investors, their team, will have a fit. We live in a desperate decade, no one's got any self-respect, everybody's chasing the dollar and fearful there won't be a seat at the table for them. Furthermore, there's a backlash to this, fans trumpeting marginal talent to make themselves feel better. Don't fall for it. If you're not mass, you're not relevant. It's all about mindshare, and the audience has limited space. Respect this. Earn people's attention. And know that everything is slower these days. Records take nearly a year to top the chart.
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
The money was in recordings.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
The money is in touring and the penumbra...merchandising, sponsorships, endorsements, privates... Like Donna Summer once sang, you work hard for the money. People are using Facebook as Mark Zuckerberg sleeps, but unless you're out working chances are the big money ain't comin' in. This will change, there will be more money from recordings as streaming subscriptions/revenue increases. And it will. Don't prematurely shut down free, it will just drive piracy. The key is to addict people first and then make them pay for convenience.
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
Radio reached everybody.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
Radio is an overhyped medium that does not satiate the consumer. No one wants to wait an eternity to hear their favorite track when it's just a click away online. Which is why personality and story are key to the new radio, and no commercials. Sirius XM has got no ads, and Apple Music has story, but the previous has little story and the latter is laden with amateurs. The big winner? Howard Stern, who realizes story is everything and makes you feel included. Stars get more publicity than ever before, but they're smaller in reach than ever before. Adele goes mass because she can sing and employs good songs you can sing along with. But nobody follows her lead, everybody wants to be Kendrick Lamar or a pop diva working with Max Martin. Want to go nuclear? Write hummable songs with good changes that people can sing along with, and deliver them with a great voice. Sounds easy, but it's hard to do, and it's not hip. But that's today's music world, everybody wants it simple and hip, and
that's not a formula for entrancing the world.
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
TV sold records and built careers.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
TV is irrelevant unless it has a mass audience, and none of the traditional shows do. Which is why everybody fights for the mass audience events. They do the Super Bowl to sell tons of tickets and the Grammys so the audience can finally put a face to the name. Admit it, you didn't know what some of the stars looked like until you saw them on TV last night.
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
Upward mobility.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
The hit acts may be young, but it's still the same old white baby boomers running the companies. And they don't want anybody encroaching upon their turf. But like Scalia, they're gonna pass, no one is forever.
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
Run by rock.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
Run by pop, country and hip-hop. You can get your piercings and tattoos, run up the Active Rock chart, but the truth is the audience is laughing if it cares at all, you're just one step away from a Civil War reenactor. Why don't you break out your BlackBerry. Even better, why don't you break out you 8-track tape! (And don't buy the comeback of vinyl and cassette hype. We're nostalgic for the past because the present moves too fast, but the truth is we don't really want to go there. We may be addicted to and distracted by our mobile devices, but we don't want to go back to the era of loneliness. It'd be like refusing to have an answering machine, back when we still talked on the phone... If someone says they're gonna call you, that they've been on the phone all day, they're an oldster destined for extinction. Millennials don't want to waste that much time. In the era of plenitude as opposed to scarcity it's all about deciding what you DON'T want to do, because you just don't have
enough time.)
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
Got no respect and didn't care. Warner Music was the engine that built the Warner cable system. Music was an outside business whose stars were more powerful than any politician or industrialist.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
Is constantly fighting for success and is full of brand extensions, looking for a way to make more bucks. If you're not willing to leave some money on the table, you're never gonna bond with your audience, which is struggling.
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
Teed it up and the press said what it wanted.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
Controls the media, only gives limited access. And the doofus writers are sycophants, burnishing the images of the famous, as if fame and wealth made you and your music worthwhile.
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
You spoke with your music.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
You feud in the media. When Taylor Swift disses Kanye West in her acceptance speech you know the end is near. When you're that self-referential, you've missed the plot. Kanye just wants publicity. How do you fight that? BY IGNORING HIM! But no one can seemingly ignore him.
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
Your handlers promoted you.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
You promote yourself, no one better than Kanye. Veracity is irrelevant, it's all train-wreck all the time, we follow music like wrestling, everybody's a cartoon character fighting for our attention and we know the game is fixed, just like America, we may bump asses to your tunes but the only people who believe in you are the uneducated nitwits with no future. How did we abdicate all our power? How did we lose our self-respect?
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
Was a haven of self-promoting and self-dealing crooks.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
Is easing towards transparency, and the oldsters don't like this. But the truth is anybody with success doesn't like this either, the money is in touring and the acts don't want the public knowing it can't get a ticket because of Amex and Citi sponsorships and self-dealing. Ever notice how the stars don't bitch? Because they're getting paid. When someone like David Lowery complains look at his stature, how much money he's making. Melissa Ferrick too. Has and never-beens can't get attention with their music, so they sue. And if you pay attention to what they have to say you'll get caught up in their backwater.
BOTTOM LINE
We're never going back to the past. The good old days had advantages, but there was tons of inconvenience that today's audience will not tolerate. To play in the present you must know it's all about attention, garnering it and maintaining it. Financial rewards come after. Isn't that the YouTube paradigm? They won't build your audience, but if you've got one, you can make money. And when you're building your audience know that unless it's an ongoing relationship, it's not worth much. You must continually feed people and you can't burn anybody. But that does not mean you cannot have an edge, never forget, edges hook people and not everyone is gonna like you, if you're not pissing off someone, you're not doing it right. And know that today the only people who truly care about you are those who can't help you. Everybody pledging undying fealty is lying. Society has changed, it's coarser, people can't pay their bills. They're with you for now, but for the future..? The label just needs
somebody, not necessarily you.
And we're looking for heroes. A hero is not someone who is rich, although they may be. A hero is someone who does what is right, not what is expedient, even if nobody's watching. You hook us with your music, but it's your identity that keeps us attached. And in music we've got to believe it's you, not the work of a handler. So if someone else is writing the material... You're no different from Olivia Newton-John. And if that's what you want to be, someone famous but with no center... We want the genuine article. We're just promoting imitators because pickings are slim and everyone's a slave to the money. "Uptown Funk" is catchy but meaningless. Neil Young can still sell tickets because he sells truth and soul, he does it his way.
Do it your way. Reinvent the wheel. Don't be sour grapes. Don't complain. If you're great and you're an original we've got unlimited time for you.
But few fit this paradigm.
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Labels were searching for talent, they felt if you were good enough, even if nothing like anything else, they could find a market for you.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
They just want something they can sell, hopefully just like everything else that is successful.
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
They built it.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
They want you to build it, their role is just to blow it up.
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
You had to be true to yourself.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
You're true to the buck, you follow it wherever it may go.
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
The story was the music.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
The story is the story, who you are, what you stand for, who you're dating, what tech companies you've invested in. The hardest thing to do is to get someone to click to hear your music. The audience is immune to hype. But people are constantly grazing for information, if you're part of the discussion continually people will eventually click to find out what your music is all about. But you only get one chance. No one's got any time. They want to know enough to form an opinion, but they don't want to spend hours listening to your tunes to find out they don't like you that much.
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
It was about the music. Sure, money was important, but only the most successful acts got rich and prior to Tommy Mottola the exec was secondary to the performer.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
It's about the money. And secondarily the fame. No one is interested unless you can generate bucks, right away. If you don't have this ability, don't bother to sell yourself, no one cares. Especially promoters. Used to be the labels subsidized club dates, building your career. But that went out with Napster...if you think the promoter wants to lose money, why don't you light a match to a wad of bills, see how it feels.
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
Let you find your way.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
Wants you fully formed, it wants no experimentation, no finding of your way on their dime. They're only interested once you've proven the concept, data is everything, how many followers, how many streams, they want no one wet behind the ears,
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
Believed in artist development. CREATIVE artist development. A business story, wherein you gain more fans and traction is CAREER development, don't confuse the two.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
The acts come and go, the execs remain, they want to milk what you've got now as opposed to worrying about where you're gonna be in the future.
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
They wanted to sign no one who didn't write.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
They want you to write with others. There's too much money at risk to promote secondary songs. Furthermore, competition is fierce, with everything at everybody's fingertips, the entire history of recorded music, you've got to be just as good as the classics, the bar is ever higher. If you think you're good enough, you probably don't know what great is. Furthermore, as much as you hate the pros, it's their business to pick hits. The internet was supposed to unearth tons of unsigned talent that was gonna decimate the majors... It didn't happen. Turned out the labels were good at flushing out talent and there's only so much greatness to go around.
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
You could say no.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
Everybody says yes all the time, otherwise their investors, their team, will have a fit. We live in a desperate decade, no one's got any self-respect, everybody's chasing the dollar and fearful there won't be a seat at the table for them. Furthermore, there's a backlash to this, fans trumpeting marginal talent to make themselves feel better. Don't fall for it. If you're not mass, you're not relevant. It's all about mindshare, and the audience has limited space. Respect this. Earn people's attention. And know that everything is slower these days. Records take nearly a year to top the chart.
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
The money was in recordings.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
The money is in touring and the penumbra...merchandising, sponsorships, endorsements, privates... Like Donna Summer once sang, you work hard for the money. People are using Facebook as Mark Zuckerberg sleeps, but unless you're out working chances are the big money ain't comin' in. This will change, there will be more money from recordings as streaming subscriptions/revenue increases. And it will. Don't prematurely shut down free, it will just drive piracy. The key is to addict people first and then make them pay for convenience.
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
Radio reached everybody.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
Radio is an overhyped medium that does not satiate the consumer. No one wants to wait an eternity to hear their favorite track when it's just a click away online. Which is why personality and story are key to the new radio, and no commercials. Sirius XM has got no ads, and Apple Music has story, but the previous has little story and the latter is laden with amateurs. The big winner? Howard Stern, who realizes story is everything and makes you feel included. Stars get more publicity than ever before, but they're smaller in reach than ever before. Adele goes mass because she can sing and employs good songs you can sing along with. But nobody follows her lead, everybody wants to be Kendrick Lamar or a pop diva working with Max Martin. Want to go nuclear? Write hummable songs with good changes that people can sing along with, and deliver them with a great voice. Sounds easy, but it's hard to do, and it's not hip. But that's today's music world, everybody wants it simple and hip, and
that's not a formula for entrancing the world.
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
TV sold records and built careers.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
TV is irrelevant unless it has a mass audience, and none of the traditional shows do. Which is why everybody fights for the mass audience events. They do the Super Bowl to sell tons of tickets and the Grammys so the audience can finally put a face to the name. Admit it, you didn't know what some of the stars looked like until you saw them on TV last night.
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
Upward mobility.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
The hit acts may be young, but it's still the same old white baby boomers running the companies. And they don't want anybody encroaching upon their turf. But like Scalia, they're gonna pass, no one is forever.
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
Run by rock.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
Run by pop, country and hip-hop. You can get your piercings and tattoos, run up the Active Rock chart, but the truth is the audience is laughing if it cares at all, you're just one step away from a Civil War reenactor. Why don't you break out your BlackBerry. Even better, why don't you break out you 8-track tape! (And don't buy the comeback of vinyl and cassette hype. We're nostalgic for the past because the present moves too fast, but the truth is we don't really want to go there. We may be addicted to and distracted by our mobile devices, but we don't want to go back to the era of loneliness. It'd be like refusing to have an answering machine, back when we still talked on the phone... If someone says they're gonna call you, that they've been on the phone all day, they're an oldster destined for extinction. Millennials don't want to waste that much time. In the era of plenitude as opposed to scarcity it's all about deciding what you DON'T want to do, because you just don't have
enough time.)
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
Got no respect and didn't care. Warner Music was the engine that built the Warner cable system. Music was an outside business whose stars were more powerful than any politician or industrialist.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
Is constantly fighting for success and is full of brand extensions, looking for a way to make more bucks. If you're not willing to leave some money on the table, you're never gonna bond with your audience, which is struggling.
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
Teed it up and the press said what it wanted.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
Controls the media, only gives limited access. And the doofus writers are sycophants, burnishing the images of the famous, as if fame and wealth made you and your music worthwhile.
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
You spoke with your music.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
You feud in the media. When Taylor Swift disses Kanye West in her acceptance speech you know the end is near. When you're that self-referential, you've missed the plot. Kanye just wants publicity. How do you fight that? BY IGNORING HIM! But no one can seemingly ignore him.
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
Your handlers promoted you.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
You promote yourself, no one better than Kanye. Veracity is irrelevant, it's all train-wreck all the time, we follow music like wrestling, everybody's a cartoon character fighting for our attention and we know the game is fixed, just like America, we may bump asses to your tunes but the only people who believe in you are the uneducated nitwits with no future. How did we abdicate all our power? How did we lose our self-respect?
OLD MUSIC BUSINESS
Was a haven of self-promoting and self-dealing crooks.
NEW MUSIC BUSINESS
Is easing towards transparency, and the oldsters don't like this. But the truth is anybody with success doesn't like this either, the money is in touring and the acts don't want the public knowing it can't get a ticket because of Amex and Citi sponsorships and self-dealing. Ever notice how the stars don't bitch? Because they're getting paid. When someone like David Lowery complains look at his stature, how much money he's making. Melissa Ferrick too. Has and never-beens can't get attention with their music, so they sue. And if you pay attention to what they have to say you'll get caught up in their backwater.
BOTTOM LINE
We're never going back to the past. The good old days had advantages, but there was tons of inconvenience that today's audience will not tolerate. To play in the present you must know it's all about attention, garnering it and maintaining it. Financial rewards come after. Isn't that the YouTube paradigm? They won't build your audience, but if you've got one, you can make money. And when you're building your audience know that unless it's an ongoing relationship, it's not worth much. You must continually feed people and you can't burn anybody. But that does not mean you cannot have an edge, never forget, edges hook people and not everyone is gonna like you, if you're not pissing off someone, you're not doing it right. And know that today the only people who truly care about you are those who can't help you. Everybody pledging undying fealty is lying. Society has changed, it's coarser, people can't pay their bills. They're with you for now, but for the future..? The label just needs
somebody, not necessarily you.
And we're looking for heroes. A hero is not someone who is rich, although they may be. A hero is someone who does what is right, not what is expedient, even if nobody's watching. You hook us with your music, but it's your identity that keeps us attached. And in music we've got to believe it's you, not the work of a handler. So if someone else is writing the material... You're no different from Olivia Newton-John. And if that's what you want to be, someone famous but with no center... We want the genuine article. We're just promoting imitators because pickings are slim and everyone's a slave to the money. "Uptown Funk" is catchy but meaningless. Neil Young can still sell tickets because he sells truth and soul, he does it his way.
Do it your way. Reinvent the wheel. Don't be sour grapes. Don't complain. If you're great and you're an original we've got unlimited time for you.
But few fit this paradigm.
--
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The Grammys
Taylor Swift was insufferable, LL Cool J was jive, the Weeknd soared and the Eagles sounded like angels ferrying Glenn Frey to heaven.
But what struck me most was the changing of the guard. The baby boomers, the rockers, they're in the rearview mirror, it's a pop world run by young people and if you're waiting for the classic rock era to come back I can only quote Pete Townshend...that song is over.
How did this happen? Wasn't the business supposed to crater when the legends crapped out?
But the truth is Kenny Chesney, Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean can all sell out stadiums, Ms. Swift too, and we haven't had that spirit here since...well, maybe not 1969, but for a very long time.
The business may be run by old men, but soon they're going to be gone too and it will be a whole new era. One in which separating the seeds from the stems in your gatefold cover will be completely history, just like waiting for your favorite song to come on the radio and knowing every track on a mediocre album because you bought it and can't afford another.
We've been distracted, by piracy, by streaming rates. But the truth is time was passing, and despite the inane comments by Neil Portnow and Common, there's tons of money in music and it's only gonna get better. Arguing about streaming payments now is like bitching about home taping back before the CD came along to rain more riches upon the music business than it had ever seen before. Remember when people wouldn't pay for broadband? The public wants to give you their money, that's why you can't get a ticket to see Adele and the rest of the hit acts. Sure, the middle class acts are struggling, but so is the middle class itself, that's what Bernie Sanders is trying to save.
But Bernie Sanders was nowhere in evidence at this hermetically sealed show, where insiders were up front and there was rarely a sense of energy in the room. Scalia died but I heard no reference to the man single-handedly holding back artistic freedom... That's right, try getting an abortion in Texas so you can continue your career. But every act's a Republican these days, out for themselves and refusing to lift their brother. What a long strange trip it's been from Paul Kantner giving the middle finger to the establishment.
But Bernie is about credibility and truth. Who wrote this show, who hired LL Cool J? The script sounded straight out of 1985, there was no honesty, no edge, just flattery and pabulum, and you expect those at home to be inspired to get it right? When everybody on stage is doing it for the exposure?
But you've got to question their judgment. Taylor Swift wore a slinky outfit, she's outgrown her geekiness, but her production was a wall of sound, and not in a Phil Spector way. You could see it, but you couldn't HEAR IT! And the last time I checked it was about what went into your ears as opposed to what went into your eyes.
And then there was the lame intro and the flashbacks to previous shows... Huh? That'd be like whipping out your baby pictures on a first date. Be present, isn't that what the millennials strive for?
But there was an emphasis on hip-hop immediately. As if rock had been lost along the way and old farts were no longer entitled to seats at the table, it was refreshing.
And when the second performance was by young country stars... You know something has changed. There was no sense of history, no playing to the past, and that's a good thing.
And then came the Weeknd.
HE COULD SING!
That's what separates the amateurs from the professionals... You almost couldn't believe it, we're not exposed to such greatness, everything is faked, from music to videos, that's the story of the twenty first century, and then someone with talent, from Canada, where they still believe in that, brings us back to where we once belonged. You couldn't take your eyes off him, you were stunned.
Not so much when he segued into "In The Night," but you can't ask for everything.
Audra Day made Ellie Goulding look like an amateur.
As for the Lionel Richie tribute...talk about a train-wreck. Obviously it was payback for agreeing to be honored by Musicares, but this was the first truly tone-deaf performance. And why does everybody on the Grammy telecast have to perform with someone else? Have any "Grammy Moments" ever resulted from this? NO!
Then we had the inane recitation of the fable that country radio held back Little Big Town's "Girl Crush" because they thought it was about lesbianism. IT WAS A PUBLICITY STUNT! People can't trust Hillary Clinton because she says what's expedient, paying back all her donors along the way, and you've got the Grammys doing the same thing. Don't they realize times have changed?
And I love Stevie Wonder, but thank god Maurice White was already dead, that was a lame tribute. Either do it right, with the whole damn band, or don't do it at all.
And then came the Eagles...
I'd love to say Jackson Browne knocked it out of the park, but his voice was sketchy. As for the rest of the band, like the Weeknd, you just couldn't believe their voices weren't on tape. When the camera focused on Brittany Howard singing the "oohs" in the audience...I got goosebumps. These are our shared memories, at some point there will be no more Eagles, we'll only have the records, revel in the sound while you can, as well as Bernie Leadon's picking...what a concept, play the lead from the record and nail it! Then again, the Eagles were all about perfection, and you hated them for it. But how many of today's acts will be selling out arenas decades hence?
James Bay and Tori Kelly sang in search of a song.
And then came "Hamilton"...
I first saw it at the Spotify party, at the Chateau Marmont, with glasses tinkling and people talking and it just didn't work, it seemed like a segment from the small screen sixties.
But when I watched it at home...
I hated the coached audience, over-applauding.
But I LOVED the rapped acceptance speech by Lin-Manuel Miranda. How come this guy is more creative than all the doofuses on the main show?
But what I really took from this telecast was that "Hamilton" is a live event. Even the album misses the mark, it's sans the shouting and the sheer passion of the production. "Hamilton" is the best musical event of the year, far outstripping the records nominated for the hip-hop award, and "1989" too. Because Lin-Manuel Miranda took a risk, pushed the envelope, he didn't call Max Martin to ensure success, but hung it out there all the way. If you've seen the show you know what I'm talking about.
And now we're in the middle of the telecast and it's hard not to fast-forward.
Kendrick hooked you and then the production overwhelmed the message.
As for Adele... Did this song sound like a hit to you?
As for Bieber... Totally laughable. When he was strumming his guitar singing his song it reminded me of a high school student playing for his parents. It sucked. Why does this guy get a pass?
"Where Are U Now" was better, but a bit of a train-wreck.
But nothing like Lady Gaga's tribute to David Bowie. It was jaw-droppingly bad. Why didn't they just hire the original, Liza Minnelli, to do this faux tribute to a bleeding edge artist?
Medleys never work. If she'd just sung "Space Oddity" sans makeup and production it would have been better. Who's responsible for this? Couldn't Nile Rodgers have said no? But that's the Grammys, where more is better and no one will stand up to Ken Ehrlich and Gaga is treated like a superstar, as opposed to someone with one hit album. Hell, this was a job for Annie Lennox, someone from the old days who's still got it. What a disaster.
And by this time it's kind of a blur.
The B.B. King tribute was good, but not so good you couldn't go to the bathroom. Sure, Chris Stapleton needed to be on the show, but couldn't he have done one of his own songs? And what did Gary Clark, Jr. do for us this year? As for Bonnie Raitt...I love her, she played some mean slide, but how about delaying her appearance until next year, when her new album is in contention? This was one of those boomer moments, throwing a bone to the aged, but the befuddled alta kachers had already tuned out and gone to bed, like they were gonna sit through the music of these youngsters, it contradicted almost everything they believed in!
But Alabama Shakes delivered. Got to give them credit.
As for Hollywood Vampires... Evidence as to why rock is dead and should stay buried. It was like opening a crypt from the seventies...ee-eww...
And I thought they were going to avoid a train-wreck ending, but they can't resist, throwing everything including the kitchen sink into the mix, albeit spearheaded by one of today's hitmakers.
As for the winners?
Who gives a shit. You're not gonna remember 'em.
But I remember when bands refused to be on this show. Protesting its lack of pulse, and as much as Mike Greene made it legitimate, when Stephen Colbert can win two Grammys, what the hell are the statuettes worth?
There are way too many categories and the big sport is second-guessing the voters as opposed to applauding what's real.
But the show was much better than the Oscars. Because it's living in the present.
We never expected this to happen, to have all our classic artists dropping like flies, we thought they and their music were gonna rule until we died.
But it's a new world now. One in which Clive Davis may be featured on screen, but he has absolutely no power.
Go to a music business event. Everybody's 25-35. The generation's changed. It's their music business now.
And that's a good thing.
But why do so many of the hits have to be written by committee? Are we so afraid of diversity that Max Martin has to work on all the hits? And when Universal sweeps the top category you wonder what it's gonna take for a newbie to break in, one who doesn't want to play by the rules.
But the truth is the barrier to entry is low.
I just wish that more people knew how to play, but even more knew how to think, how to be their own person.
It's not about girl power, it's about people power.
Music is the last bastion of the individual. We like you best when you let your freak flag fly!
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But what struck me most was the changing of the guard. The baby boomers, the rockers, they're in the rearview mirror, it's a pop world run by young people and if you're waiting for the classic rock era to come back I can only quote Pete Townshend...that song is over.
How did this happen? Wasn't the business supposed to crater when the legends crapped out?
But the truth is Kenny Chesney, Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean can all sell out stadiums, Ms. Swift too, and we haven't had that spirit here since...well, maybe not 1969, but for a very long time.
The business may be run by old men, but soon they're going to be gone too and it will be a whole new era. One in which separating the seeds from the stems in your gatefold cover will be completely history, just like waiting for your favorite song to come on the radio and knowing every track on a mediocre album because you bought it and can't afford another.
We've been distracted, by piracy, by streaming rates. But the truth is time was passing, and despite the inane comments by Neil Portnow and Common, there's tons of money in music and it's only gonna get better. Arguing about streaming payments now is like bitching about home taping back before the CD came along to rain more riches upon the music business than it had ever seen before. Remember when people wouldn't pay for broadband? The public wants to give you their money, that's why you can't get a ticket to see Adele and the rest of the hit acts. Sure, the middle class acts are struggling, but so is the middle class itself, that's what Bernie Sanders is trying to save.
But Bernie Sanders was nowhere in evidence at this hermetically sealed show, where insiders were up front and there was rarely a sense of energy in the room. Scalia died but I heard no reference to the man single-handedly holding back artistic freedom... That's right, try getting an abortion in Texas so you can continue your career. But every act's a Republican these days, out for themselves and refusing to lift their brother. What a long strange trip it's been from Paul Kantner giving the middle finger to the establishment.
But Bernie is about credibility and truth. Who wrote this show, who hired LL Cool J? The script sounded straight out of 1985, there was no honesty, no edge, just flattery and pabulum, and you expect those at home to be inspired to get it right? When everybody on stage is doing it for the exposure?
But you've got to question their judgment. Taylor Swift wore a slinky outfit, she's outgrown her geekiness, but her production was a wall of sound, and not in a Phil Spector way. You could see it, but you couldn't HEAR IT! And the last time I checked it was about what went into your ears as opposed to what went into your eyes.
And then there was the lame intro and the flashbacks to previous shows... Huh? That'd be like whipping out your baby pictures on a first date. Be present, isn't that what the millennials strive for?
But there was an emphasis on hip-hop immediately. As if rock had been lost along the way and old farts were no longer entitled to seats at the table, it was refreshing.
And when the second performance was by young country stars... You know something has changed. There was no sense of history, no playing to the past, and that's a good thing.
And then came the Weeknd.
HE COULD SING!
That's what separates the amateurs from the professionals... You almost couldn't believe it, we're not exposed to such greatness, everything is faked, from music to videos, that's the story of the twenty first century, and then someone with talent, from Canada, where they still believe in that, brings us back to where we once belonged. You couldn't take your eyes off him, you were stunned.
Not so much when he segued into "In The Night," but you can't ask for everything.
Audra Day made Ellie Goulding look like an amateur.
As for the Lionel Richie tribute...talk about a train-wreck. Obviously it was payback for agreeing to be honored by Musicares, but this was the first truly tone-deaf performance. And why does everybody on the Grammy telecast have to perform with someone else? Have any "Grammy Moments" ever resulted from this? NO!
Then we had the inane recitation of the fable that country radio held back Little Big Town's "Girl Crush" because they thought it was about lesbianism. IT WAS A PUBLICITY STUNT! People can't trust Hillary Clinton because she says what's expedient, paying back all her donors along the way, and you've got the Grammys doing the same thing. Don't they realize times have changed?
And I love Stevie Wonder, but thank god Maurice White was already dead, that was a lame tribute. Either do it right, with the whole damn band, or don't do it at all.
And then came the Eagles...
I'd love to say Jackson Browne knocked it out of the park, but his voice was sketchy. As for the rest of the band, like the Weeknd, you just couldn't believe their voices weren't on tape. When the camera focused on Brittany Howard singing the "oohs" in the audience...I got goosebumps. These are our shared memories, at some point there will be no more Eagles, we'll only have the records, revel in the sound while you can, as well as Bernie Leadon's picking...what a concept, play the lead from the record and nail it! Then again, the Eagles were all about perfection, and you hated them for it. But how many of today's acts will be selling out arenas decades hence?
James Bay and Tori Kelly sang in search of a song.
And then came "Hamilton"...
I first saw it at the Spotify party, at the Chateau Marmont, with glasses tinkling and people talking and it just didn't work, it seemed like a segment from the small screen sixties.
But when I watched it at home...
I hated the coached audience, over-applauding.
But I LOVED the rapped acceptance speech by Lin-Manuel Miranda. How come this guy is more creative than all the doofuses on the main show?
But what I really took from this telecast was that "Hamilton" is a live event. Even the album misses the mark, it's sans the shouting and the sheer passion of the production. "Hamilton" is the best musical event of the year, far outstripping the records nominated for the hip-hop award, and "1989" too. Because Lin-Manuel Miranda took a risk, pushed the envelope, he didn't call Max Martin to ensure success, but hung it out there all the way. If you've seen the show you know what I'm talking about.
And now we're in the middle of the telecast and it's hard not to fast-forward.
Kendrick hooked you and then the production overwhelmed the message.
As for Adele... Did this song sound like a hit to you?
As for Bieber... Totally laughable. When he was strumming his guitar singing his song it reminded me of a high school student playing for his parents. It sucked. Why does this guy get a pass?
"Where Are U Now" was better, but a bit of a train-wreck.
But nothing like Lady Gaga's tribute to David Bowie. It was jaw-droppingly bad. Why didn't they just hire the original, Liza Minnelli, to do this faux tribute to a bleeding edge artist?
Medleys never work. If she'd just sung "Space Oddity" sans makeup and production it would have been better. Who's responsible for this? Couldn't Nile Rodgers have said no? But that's the Grammys, where more is better and no one will stand up to Ken Ehrlich and Gaga is treated like a superstar, as opposed to someone with one hit album. Hell, this was a job for Annie Lennox, someone from the old days who's still got it. What a disaster.
And by this time it's kind of a blur.
The B.B. King tribute was good, but not so good you couldn't go to the bathroom. Sure, Chris Stapleton needed to be on the show, but couldn't he have done one of his own songs? And what did Gary Clark, Jr. do for us this year? As for Bonnie Raitt...I love her, she played some mean slide, but how about delaying her appearance until next year, when her new album is in contention? This was one of those boomer moments, throwing a bone to the aged, but the befuddled alta kachers had already tuned out and gone to bed, like they were gonna sit through the music of these youngsters, it contradicted almost everything they believed in!
But Alabama Shakes delivered. Got to give them credit.
As for Hollywood Vampires... Evidence as to why rock is dead and should stay buried. It was like opening a crypt from the seventies...ee-eww...
And I thought they were going to avoid a train-wreck ending, but they can't resist, throwing everything including the kitchen sink into the mix, albeit spearheaded by one of today's hitmakers.
As for the winners?
Who gives a shit. You're not gonna remember 'em.
But I remember when bands refused to be on this show. Protesting its lack of pulse, and as much as Mike Greene made it legitimate, when Stephen Colbert can win two Grammys, what the hell are the statuettes worth?
There are way too many categories and the big sport is second-guessing the voters as opposed to applauding what's real.
But the show was much better than the Oscars. Because it's living in the present.
We never expected this to happen, to have all our classic artists dropping like flies, we thought they and their music were gonna rule until we died.
But it's a new world now. One in which Clive Davis may be featured on screen, but he has absolutely no power.
Go to a music business event. Everybody's 25-35. The generation's changed. It's their music business now.
And that's a good thing.
But why do so many of the hits have to be written by committee? Are we so afraid of diversity that Max Martin has to work on all the hits? And when Universal sweeps the top category you wonder what it's gonna take for a newbie to break in, one who doesn't want to play by the rules.
But the truth is the barrier to entry is low.
I just wish that more people knew how to play, but even more knew how to think, how to be their own person.
It's not about girl power, it's about people power.
Music is the last bastion of the individual. We like you best when you let your freak flag fly!
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Sunday, 14 February 2016
Dave Grohl At Musicares
How the hell does Dave Grohl know Lionel Richie?
That's what I said to Felice, employing an f not an h, as Mr. Grohl strode to the front of the stage.
It's become a ritual, two nights before the Grammys, they honor a superstar and rake in a ton of dough for Musicares, to help musicians, and we all know musicians need help, especially after Katrina, this is one thing the Grammy organization does right, and kudos to them for it.
And this clusterfuck, and that's truly what it is, is one of the highlights of my year, because I can do twelve months of business in one night, everybody goes, from Jason Flom to Quincy Jones to Gary Dell'Abate... I'd be lying if I told you I was paying attention to the performances.
Because radio used to be segregated. As big as Stevie Wonder was in the seventies, many black acts toiled in the trenches of black radio, never crossing over. Some had hits on AM, but the Blaupunkt in my car stopped getting that band and I missed it not a whit. Radio ruled the decade and it all happened on FM, where rock dominated and the Commodores were someone you saw in the record store.
Until MTV, which democratized music, put the blacks up against the whites. Michael Jackson triumphed and then pop and hip-hop trounced rock and at this point the white sound has been marginalized, oh what a long strange trip it's been (actually, Bob Weir was sitting at Bill Silva's table, I talked to the latter, not the former).
Which is to say I'm not steeped in the Lionel Richie canon. I've got a soft spot in my heart for "All Night Long," but that was the eighties, a perfect pop song that you couldn't get out of your head, kind of like "Still The One" back in '76. Some tracks are undeniable.
And some tracks can't be covered by others. Florence of the Machine rearranged "Dancing On The Ceiling" to the point where it was neither here nor there, fish nor fowl, soul nor rock. The Band Perry employed exquisite vocals, why are all the best singers in country these days, and it satisfied but it did not elate.
And that's when I went to the bathroom. That's where all the action takes place during the show. After all, there are two tiers of people in attendance, the insiders and the wannabes. The wannabes sit in the back, enthralled, thrilled they're inside the building, but like Harry in the movie with Sally the insiders ask how long it will be before they can leave, which they do, in droves, before the end, missing Bob Dylan's once in a lifetime speech last year and Lionel Richie's moving message this year. Richie came alive, gave props to Motown and Berry Gordy, for educating him and pushing him, one number one was not enough, what did Lionel have in the pipeline? Furthermore, Lionel said to give it all, you can't take anything with you, funny how only the aged seem to know this and the industrialists think they can defy this, are you listening Sumner Redstone?
But when I was ensconced back in my seat Mr. Grohl took the stage. The hope of a generation, the Gen-X'ers, Mr. Rock and Roll, so overexposed that when he goes away it seems like he's still here.
But by poking fun at himself for his attendance he calmed the waters, salved the reaction, and told of Lionel sending him a huge muffin basket after Dave fell off the stage and broke his leg.
And Dave was walking quite well, which is quite a statement, as you age you heal much more slowly, and Dave is deep into his fifth decade.
And I assumed Dave would not sing. Not everybody does. There are tributes and introductions and what could be worse than a matchup of Dave Grohl and Lionel Richie music.
But then the band started to play, and like Adam Sandler in the "Wedding Singer" Dave spread his arms and started to sing.
The song was "You Are." I only know the title because Jimmy Kimmel recited it after Dave was done. But I knew the song. That's what's happened in the decades since the musical segregation, all the great hits of yore have seeped into our consciousness, they're in the air, at weddings, bar mitzvahs, celebrations of all sorts. So when someone starts to sing a hit you smile and sing along.
But you're never any good. That's what separates the professionals from the amateurs, their pipes, their talent.
But it turns out Dave Grohl doesn't sing so well either. It was Kurt who had the pipes in the group. But that works in rock and roll, as long as you stay in your range, Dave sounds perfect in "Learn To Fly," but on "You Are"..?
He camped it up. He was us.
And unlike the pretenders plying the boards before him, Dave has experience, he's a professional, he knows it's about a performance, engaging the audience, creating a bond.
That's rock and roll.
And that's what Dave Grohl did last night.
He stood on stage singing a song we all knew and made it about all of us, we were suddenly in it together, we stood and clapped in joy!
You remember exclamation, when you were not there to take selfies, to produce a record of your attendance, but to have an experience and bond with the performer?
That's what Dave did last night. He created a moment.
"I've got so much love"
That's what Dave has. For the music, for the business, for the performance, that's what he conveyed last night with a smile on his face.
"You are the sun
You are the rain
That makes my life this foolish game"
It's about songs, the elixir of life that smooths the bumps and keeps us going. They get stuck in our head and never escape. And when we hear them...
"Tell me it's true
I can't believe you do what you do"
These are our heroes, writing and performing these songs.
"And my love you'll see
We'll stay together, just you and me"
There were better voices on stage. Singers who bludgeoned us with their talent. But Dave Grohl entranced us, by being smooth, by evidencing his humanity, knowing that it's not about getting it perfect, but getting it right.
You had to be there.
Ain't that what live performance is all about?
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That's what I said to Felice, employing an f not an h, as Mr. Grohl strode to the front of the stage.
It's become a ritual, two nights before the Grammys, they honor a superstar and rake in a ton of dough for Musicares, to help musicians, and we all know musicians need help, especially after Katrina, this is one thing the Grammy organization does right, and kudos to them for it.
And this clusterfuck, and that's truly what it is, is one of the highlights of my year, because I can do twelve months of business in one night, everybody goes, from Jason Flom to Quincy Jones to Gary Dell'Abate... I'd be lying if I told you I was paying attention to the performances.
Because radio used to be segregated. As big as Stevie Wonder was in the seventies, many black acts toiled in the trenches of black radio, never crossing over. Some had hits on AM, but the Blaupunkt in my car stopped getting that band and I missed it not a whit. Radio ruled the decade and it all happened on FM, where rock dominated and the Commodores were someone you saw in the record store.
Until MTV, which democratized music, put the blacks up against the whites. Michael Jackson triumphed and then pop and hip-hop trounced rock and at this point the white sound has been marginalized, oh what a long strange trip it's been (actually, Bob Weir was sitting at Bill Silva's table, I talked to the latter, not the former).
Which is to say I'm not steeped in the Lionel Richie canon. I've got a soft spot in my heart for "All Night Long," but that was the eighties, a perfect pop song that you couldn't get out of your head, kind of like "Still The One" back in '76. Some tracks are undeniable.
And some tracks can't be covered by others. Florence of the Machine rearranged "Dancing On The Ceiling" to the point where it was neither here nor there, fish nor fowl, soul nor rock. The Band Perry employed exquisite vocals, why are all the best singers in country these days, and it satisfied but it did not elate.
And that's when I went to the bathroom. That's where all the action takes place during the show. After all, there are two tiers of people in attendance, the insiders and the wannabes. The wannabes sit in the back, enthralled, thrilled they're inside the building, but like Harry in the movie with Sally the insiders ask how long it will be before they can leave, which they do, in droves, before the end, missing Bob Dylan's once in a lifetime speech last year and Lionel Richie's moving message this year. Richie came alive, gave props to Motown and Berry Gordy, for educating him and pushing him, one number one was not enough, what did Lionel have in the pipeline? Furthermore, Lionel said to give it all, you can't take anything with you, funny how only the aged seem to know this and the industrialists think they can defy this, are you listening Sumner Redstone?
But when I was ensconced back in my seat Mr. Grohl took the stage. The hope of a generation, the Gen-X'ers, Mr. Rock and Roll, so overexposed that when he goes away it seems like he's still here.
But by poking fun at himself for his attendance he calmed the waters, salved the reaction, and told of Lionel sending him a huge muffin basket after Dave fell off the stage and broke his leg.
And Dave was walking quite well, which is quite a statement, as you age you heal much more slowly, and Dave is deep into his fifth decade.
And I assumed Dave would not sing. Not everybody does. There are tributes and introductions and what could be worse than a matchup of Dave Grohl and Lionel Richie music.
But then the band started to play, and like Adam Sandler in the "Wedding Singer" Dave spread his arms and started to sing.
The song was "You Are." I only know the title because Jimmy Kimmel recited it after Dave was done. But I knew the song. That's what's happened in the decades since the musical segregation, all the great hits of yore have seeped into our consciousness, they're in the air, at weddings, bar mitzvahs, celebrations of all sorts. So when someone starts to sing a hit you smile and sing along.
But you're never any good. That's what separates the professionals from the amateurs, their pipes, their talent.
But it turns out Dave Grohl doesn't sing so well either. It was Kurt who had the pipes in the group. But that works in rock and roll, as long as you stay in your range, Dave sounds perfect in "Learn To Fly," but on "You Are"..?
He camped it up. He was us.
And unlike the pretenders plying the boards before him, Dave has experience, he's a professional, he knows it's about a performance, engaging the audience, creating a bond.
That's rock and roll.
And that's what Dave Grohl did last night.
He stood on stage singing a song we all knew and made it about all of us, we were suddenly in it together, we stood and clapped in joy!
You remember exclamation, when you were not there to take selfies, to produce a record of your attendance, but to have an experience and bond with the performer?
That's what Dave did last night. He created a moment.
"I've got so much love"
That's what Dave has. For the music, for the business, for the performance, that's what he conveyed last night with a smile on his face.
"You are the sun
You are the rain
That makes my life this foolish game"
It's about songs, the elixir of life that smooths the bumps and keeps us going. They get stuck in our head and never escape. And when we hear them...
"Tell me it's true
I can't believe you do what you do"
These are our heroes, writing and performing these songs.
"And my love you'll see
We'll stay together, just you and me"
There were better voices on stage. Singers who bludgeoned us with their talent. But Dave Grohl entranced us, by being smooth, by evidencing his humanity, knowing that it's not about getting it perfect, but getting it right.
You had to be there.
Ain't that what live performance is all about?
--
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