Re-Goats Head Soup

From: Andrew Zimmern
Subject: Goat's head soup for the win

Hey Bob,

Great post, what a thrill to wake up and see myself name-checked in your blog... I have to say you gave me an instant street cred boost with about half my friends, all of whom read you religiously.

Couple of thoughts...

You gotta watch more TV Bob!!!!

And in the travel/food genre, with the human correspondent format in a docu-follow reality setting there are two people worth exploring. The first is the late Anthony Bourdain, my friend, and the most symphonic human being I ever knew. He was a walking encyclopedia of music history, especially the NYC scene in the 70's that he loved so much. His work is beyond distinctive, beyond excellent and he was the gold standard in our world....My stuff is a distant second but I would put up the last few seasons of Bizarre Foods against anything in the genre. It took us a decade of fighting a revolving door of network heads to finally put out the show I wanted. That being said, there are 12 years of shows, many of which are pretty darn good. Glad you enjoyed the Jamaica episode.

I saw the Sticky Fingers tour in NYC, taken to the Garden by my older cousins who were way into the Stones at the time. That album was, and still is one of my desert island discs... Goat's Head Soup with Angie, and DDDD (Heartbreaker) still get a lot of play in my house, but its not the 'complete' album that the Stones were capable of putting together at their best. I always thought that the title had a lot to do with exposure that everyone was getting in the late 60's and early 70's to rasta culture in Jamaica courtesy of Chris Blackwell who at the time was going back and forth to England from Jamaica. I always imagined the band spending some time in Jamaica, documented or not, truthful or not...at least for me that's the better story. At some point I would like to think they tried the stuff...maybe they even liked it?

The Jamaican version of the dish is my third favorite despite its overall excellence....the goats head soups 've had in the slums of Buenos Aries, and in the souks, markets and nomadic tented homes of the Levant are the versions I measure all others against. The former, for all the lime, chiles, onions, tomatoes you can mix in at the table, and the latter for the brilliant textural and flavor combinations that come with cooking the heads in yogurt and broth.

To quote you... "I don't know what inspired the Stones to name the album "Goats Head Soup," but now I finally know what it is!" Maybe I'm a hopeless romantic but I would like to think at some point that the band ate the stuff prior to naming the album. If they didn't, and they pulled that title out of thin air in some sort of naming exercise, I would imagine the pleasure of the shock value was the inspiration. Like Warhol's Zipper, like Mick riding that giant inflatable tongue when they toured in 72 and 74 if I remember correctly, the band delighted in their role as a cultural provocateur. As a huge Stones fan since the earliest days of my life perhaps that influenced me and my work as well.

ROCK ON!
AZ

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Greetings from Jamaica which I alternate with LA as home.
Love that you gave respect to Goats Head Soup as it is truly wicked. I was in Jamaica when the island was hit with the hurricane force of the Stones in 1973. Dynamic Sounds Studios in Kingston had never seen anything like this and were blown away by how brilliant Mick and Keith were with microphone placement and production techniques. The Glimmer Twins wrote the blueprint. They were staying at a house near mine in Ocho Rios and the behind the scenes was just as wild. Anita Pallenberg was arrested for ganga, went to jail and was deported. Still, Keith bought his house in Ocho Rios which he still has 45 years later making him an Honorary Jamaican!!
Mick and Keith are some of the godfathers of reggae music as they help to bring reggae to the world by signing Peter Tosh to Rolling Stones Records. They produced Tosh, sang with him and took him on tour opening for the Stones to stadiums of 80,000.
I later worked with Keith on his brilliant rasta chant album 'The Wingless Angels'
Maximum respect from Jamaica to the wicked Glimmer Twins!!

Native Wayne Jobson
Ocho Rios
Jamaica

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Bob:

Just a couple of "insider" notes after reading your piece on the Stones:

Yes, the Stones got major media coverage in '72- and probably more than they deserved, due to the preponderance of "celebs" hanging around them....or should I say "media darlings". Nobody in the world gave a crap about Truman Capote and Lee Radziwill except for the editorial staffs at Time and Newsweek. The print media took the bait and suddenly felt like they were part of the party.

I shot the Stone's '72 Hollywood Palladium show and it was, I gotta say, pretty amazing. The lighting that Chip Monck designed was pure genius, with all the follow spots set in back of the amps and aimed into a large mirror the length of the stage, hung at a 45 degree angle. The lighting had the effect of literally raising the temperature of the whole room, as if the band was playing on the surface of the sun. Now, IMHO Sticky Fingers is far and away the best Stones record, but for some reason I remember them playing a LOT of stuff from Exile that night. I could be wrong, and I'm purposely not gonna go google the set list for the Palladium show- but it just seemed to me like too much Exile and not enough Sticky Fingers.

Back to the media coverage:
As it turned out, the Stones got SO much press in '72 that it started to irk the only band in the world bigger than the Stones: Led Zeppelin. We all know that Zeppelin was a notoriously cloistered group and was distrustful (to say the least) of the press. But the more ink the Stones got, the more it bothered Zeppelin, so before the 1975 Zeppelin US tour the band and Peter Grant decided to open up somewhat to the press, inviting certain journalists to come on the road for various amounts of time. This was pure manna from heaven for the lucky ones that got the invites. And because the band would need new photos (that they could control) to service to the press, they hired a tour photographer for the first time ever. That's how the plum gig of all time landed in my lap, courtesy of Danny Goldberg, Jimmy Page and Peter Grant.

I also shot a number of Stones shows in 1975- and I don't care what anyone says, Led Zeppelin wiped their asses with the Rolling Stones every single night. No Blow-up cocks on stage, no faux S&M Midnight Rambler "whipping" garbage, no dunking water on anyone's head. Zeppelin would open with "Song Remains the Same" , then segue into "Sick Again", and it was ON.
Sorry Mick, that's the truth. Jimmy Page played rings around Keith AND Mick Taylor.

Neal Preston

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Keith was living in Jamaica at the time. His home above Ocho Rios was named "Point of View". Knowing Keith, that name is spot on!! This was the 70's and Keith was in his own world. The house became filled with Jamaican musicians for years long jams. Their communal food of choice....Goats Head Soup.

Ted Utz

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They were probably inspired because Keith Richards is an honorary Jamaican and spends LOTS of time there. Mannish water would be a reg.

And it is curry goat not goat curry … yes there is a difference. In the West indies, Caribbean , Jamaica its Curry goat .. east indies i.e. India Goat Curry.

Cheers

Viv Barclay

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Hey Bob. The Goats Head Soup title, I believe comes from the fact that it was recorded at Dynamic Studios in Kingston and that was a local dish. Also, the Keith, "Patience Please" photo is actually from the fantastic Ethan Russell. I think Annie was the 75 tour photographer.
Take care.......Shawn McKelvey

P.S. Also, did you ever hear this one? Fantastic! Leftovers better than most artists main meal!
https://youtu.be/ZOwYf8qtuVI

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Great article, thanks Bob, the the credit to the keith picture must go to Ethan Russell. His pictures are iconic and has a new book of them coming out. https://shop.ethanrussell.com/

Sean Rogers

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Correction on the Keith photo. I believe with good assurances from the photographer himself, that it was Ethan Russell.
You are correct thought that is THE rock n' roll photo of the 70's.
Best
Jimmy Wachtel

_________________________________________

I love Heartbreaker! I remember reading the lyrics in the back of Hit Parader and being terrified at 9 years old. People rarely talk about what you learn about the world through music. My university was The Beatles, The Clash, The Stones, Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Neil Young, Joni et al.

Back to Goats Head Soup I think it's underrated. You're right about the middle of the 2nd side being wonderfully trance like but I also think that 100 Years Ago and Coming Down Again from side 1 going into Heartbreaker and Angie are sublime. Dancing With Mr D as an opener is lyrically a little too clever and Stones like predictable but you could do a lot worse!

Best wishes,

Merck

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A good post, but Exile entered the BB chart at No. 10 and shot to No. 1 in its second week. The first album to debut at No. 1 was Captain Fantastic in 1975.

Paul Grein

_________________________________________

Jamaica Mon! And we have a diverse food scene and celeb dry out in Minnesota. Zimmern and Zimmerman... what the fuck is with the Z's in MN? Cropper calls me Zimm cause he said he only knows two z's from Minnesota..." me and that other one".

Nemonics... Funny shit

Enjoy the soup and the vinyl.

Best,
Zannman

_________________________________________

I always loved that song as a kid, so much so that I was able to overlook what at the time I thought was the weirdest awkward lyric ever (I didn't realize the correct words until I was in my 30s!)… I forgave Jagger for singing, "Heartbreaker, with your bowling ball…"

Keep doin' whatcha do,
Ralph Covert

_________________________________________

Another good article. I agree with your observations regarding the stones and in particular "Goats Head Soup," the album and the soup. It was the Saturday before Easter in 1977 that I visited my then girlfriend's Greek relatives just north of Boston and had the unnerving experience of being shown the goat head simmering in the pot. It was their family tradition and eaten only once a year to break the fasting of the Great Lent. That visual is forever linked in my mind with the album.

As to cooking shows, they are usually a very low priority in my life. Then this guy came along that was deep into music, food and people and convinced a segment of society to burn hours watching him travel the world in a way no one else has. Anthony Bourdain looks a bit post-punk, his show's theme song is a collaboration with Josh Homme and Mark Lanegan from Queens of the Stone Age and he has rock star swagger but with the cred to back it up. Great songs tell a story and Anthony Bourdain is a great story teller. He tells it like it is, going beyond the superficial to what is truly interesting.

I totally encourage you to watch a couple of episodes of Anthony Bourdain's his most recent show on CNN, "Parts Unknown."

Watch this interview about the music used on his show. Did you know his dad worked at Columbia records?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUvM3YpnP-U

There is also an article on "The Nosher"
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/the-nosher/anthony-bourdain-explored-israel-the-way-no-one-else-could/

Bourdain's Field Notes - Jerusalem
https://explorepartsunknown.com/destination/jerusalem/

Enjoy!

Don

_________________________________________

I worked for Alan Dunn and hung with Pharmaceutical Freddie (Freddie Sessler) during The Stones comeback recording, rehearsing, releasing and touring to promote the "Some Girls" album. Barry Imhoff helped get me that gig years after he coordinated Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue. I worked that too. My official title was Assistant Road Manager reporting to Barry. But nobody even knew my name except Barry and Joseph Henry "T-Bone" Burnett. By that tours end I thought my name was "Gofer" because all day and night every day all I heard was "hey kid, go for some smokes," or hey kid go for some Coca Cola" or maybe they used its nickname. However, the Some Girls tour with Peter Tosh opening five shows was amazing. Afterwards they recorded Emotional Rescue and toured to try and capture the momentum of "rats on the west side, bedbugs uptown, what a mess, my brains been splattered, shattered all over New Yawk." Or "I was driving home early Sunday morning through Bakersfield, listenin' to gospel music on the colored radio station and the preacher said, you know you always have the Lord by your side, and I was so pleased to be informed of this that I ran twenty red lights in his honor.......Thank you Jesus, thank you Lord I had an arrangement to meet a girl, and I was kind of late and I thought by the time I got there she'd be off with the nearest truck driver she could find. Much to my surprise, there she was sittin' in the corner A little bleary, worse for wear and tear was a girl with far away eyes.......So if you're down on your luck, And you can't harmonize, find a girl with far away eyes" I was just a kid in '78, 21 years old but I'll never forget Bill hitting on my soon to be wife right in front of my eyes. Patti actually slapped him. The point is those truly were the times of our lives. After the tour the music went country with Travolta and bars with mechanical bulls but I was with The Stones. Which meant for us it was Studio 54 with Freddie in "the basement" and those 55 gallon drums filled with Q's. Warhol, Capote, Bianca and Jerry at the same place at the same time. One night I met this guy named "trump" or was it "dump,"" anyway even back then with Capote, Warhol, Mick and Keith "The Glimmer Twins" all this dumptrump guy could talk about was "look at that ones tits or that ones ass. Yeah, the world has changed. I want Some Girls Back, thats the one I still know every word of every tune. That woman "Patti" did become my wife. For 35 years until Lymphoma decided to turn our lives upside down. Patti died on 12/13/2009 and my worlds never been the same. Hold on to Felice tight, it wouldn't have been the same without her and wouldn't be now. I don't read BLOGS, EVER. But the Lefsetz Letter, that's different. It's part of my daily go to for a smile or a remembrance or just how incredible life can be without an iPhone, MacBook, iPad or whatever Apple's dreamed up to get into my pocket this year. But I can't get down on it because it's where I get my daily dose of Lefsetz. Hold onto Felice tight, there's not another. She's the girl with the far away eyes.

Rob Halprin

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Jeff Garlin-This Week's Podcast

Yes, Larry David's manager Jeff Greene on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and Murray Goldberg from "The Goldbergs." Jeff talks about both of those shows, going into how he convinced Larry to do the special that led to the series, as well as talking about his comedy career. He knew his future path upon seeing Jimmy Durante live in his formative years.

Jeff was the most popular guy in his high school class, he knows everybody, and when you listen to this podcast you'll know why. He's friendly, he's gregarious and giving.

You're gonna enjoy this.

iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj

Apple: https://apple.co/2IuIWkg

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2Gr8n2H

Stitcher: https://bit.ly/2IIR5kn


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Goats Head Soup

"The POlice in New York City
They chased a boy right through the park"

"Goats Head Soup" was a disappointment after "Exile On Main Street." Then again, what could follow up that two-disc set.

Now "Exile On Main Street" did not set the world on fire. It entered the chart at number one and fell off by time the Stones completed their '72 tour. Yes, you could get a ticket in '69, if you were hip to "Let It Bleed." But most people were not. After the misstep of "Satanic Majesties," the Beatles had eclipsed the Stones. It was suddenly no contest, until "Beggars Banquet."

Well-reviewed, "Sympathy For The Devil" and "Street Fighting Man" really didn't get much airplay. The former really didn't become famous until the Altamont movie.

But then came "Let It Bleed," with its eerie intro track "Gimmie Shelter." You could drop the needle, turn out the light, and venture to another land. And this was before "You Can't Always Get What You Want" was in "The Big Chill," the band was still playing to fans.

And then came "Sticky Fingers."

That was the Stones' "Thriller." When it all added up. With Mick Taylor wailing and an Andy Warhol cover with a real zipper, "Brown Sugar" was ubiquitous. The party didn't start until it was played. It was the anthem of Friday night. And the pent-up demand from "Sticky Fingers" filled arenas on the '72 tour. There really hasn't been anything like it since, in terms of the news coverage. Every stop generated photos and ink. Truman Capote was along for the ride. And Princess Radish, aka Lee Radziwill. There was a private plane and debauchery and the film of the tour, "Cocksucker Blues," has never been released, although Annie Leibovitz's photo of Keith Richards in shades by the water cooler became iconic, it enhanced Keith's rep.

And the paradigm being a new studio album before every tour, "Exile On Main Street" was released just before the band hit the road. And although "Tumbling Dice" got airplay, Linda Ronstadt's cover had more impact. But the band was on the road and you needed to own the album and if you listened to it enough, you got it. It's dark, it's unique, today it is legendary, back then it was seen as an of the moment relative stiff.

But how do you follow that up?

The truth is the band couldn't. "Goats Head Soup" was a disappointment.

We read about "Star******," but when it was released, it was entitled "Star Star," which seemed too safe. It wasn't the band's call, but the holding back of profanity stuck to them.

Now once again, with time "Goats Head Soup"'s rep has improved.

Actually, "Angie" got traction on the radio, but Johnny Winter rode the "Silver Train" longer than the Stones. But the second side of the LP, with "Hide Your Love," "Winter" and "Can You Hear The Music," was trance-like.

But my favorite song on the album was the one quoted above, "Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)." Never a hit, it's still one of my favorite Stones songs. Especially the way Mick Jagger emotes.

And I know every lick of "Goats Head Soup" by heart, but I hadn't thought of it recently until I saw Andrew Zimmern's show "Bizarre Foods: Delicious: Delicious Destinations" tonight.

I know the legend of Anthony Bourdain, but I've never seen his show. Ditto on Zimmern, even though I've read all about him. I know he checked in to Hazelden, I know he lives in Minneapolis, but... That's me, I'm a print guy. Who's got time for TV shows?

But tonight while eating a hamburger Felice had the "Cooking Channel" on and lo and behold the host was Andrew Zimmern, and they were in Tel Aviv, and they were going to the hot spots to uncover shawarma and other delicacies and I couldn't take my eyes off the show, I wanted to go.

And when the clock struck nine, it shifted to "Bizarre Foods," and now the location was Kingston, Jamaica. I've never been there. Yes, it was de rigueur to go to the islands when I was in high school, but I was too busy skiing. And I loved Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now" and purchased "Burnin'" and "Natty Dread" but I really didn't get Marley until the live album in '75. One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain. But you know that.

And they go through a long explanation of how you make jerk chicken, and it was pretty interesting, but then they moved on to goat curry.

And I saw the head. And I started to think of the Stones album and its title but there wasn't a soup, until...

They had a whole segment on "mannish water." And as I'm watching, I realize this is it, GOATS HEAD SOUP!

There was no internet back then. And the mainstream media barely covered rock and roll. You had to read the rags, like "Rolling Stone," "Creem" and "Fusion," but so many questions were left unanswered.

And I always exalted the performers, never thought I was their equal, always thought they were special, not like you and me.

But as time has passed, I realize so much of what I thought was hassled over and debated was an instant choice at the last minute.

I don't know what inspired the Stones to name the album "Goats Head Soup," but now I finally know what it is!


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Streaming Killed The Gatekeepers

Every technological revolution changes the music.

The invention of the 33 1/3 vinyl album allowed the creation of "Rubber Soul" and then "Sgt. Pepper." Suddenly the album was a statement instead of a single and a bunch of filler. Then when you could no longer simulcast your AM stream on FM, we got free-form radio. Then MTV came along and made it about how you looked. And without a hit single, you were toast. And then streaming came along and killed the gatekeepers.

The barrier to the creation of music is essentially nonexistent. You can make it on your laptop and for a small fee get it on all streaming services, not that anyone will listen to it. As a result there's a plethora of product. Those prognosticators of yore said Napster and the internet would kill the production of music, just the opposite has happened.

And now you can break a record without radio. Radio comes last, not first. As for MTV, it's a non-factor. The labels angry they didn't get a piece of it should just be glad Murdoch bought MySpace. In other words, music is forever, the platform is not, stay in your lane.

But now the major labels' lane is signing what is commercial and only commercial. The system needs hits. Furthermore, the labels rarely develop the acts, rather the acts develop themselves and the labels poach them. But if you're not making hip-hop or pop, or country, no one wants you, does that mean no one wants your genre of music? No.

You see on Spotify, et al, there's no massaging of the data. A stream is a stream. Such that in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. In other words, the Spotify Top 50 counts, after that?

The labels and the media are oriented towards this. Hell, seemingly every newspaper prints the "Billboard" Top Ten every week. There's this focus on the most popular, when the most popular is less popular than ever before.

So no one can force a hit. It's not about your relationship with radio or TV, that's not where the active listeners are. Ask any publicity person, other than "CBS Sunday Morning" and SNL, no television appearance moves the needle. When people can see video for free, on YouTube, why should they make an appointment? As for appointments, this is what is killing the old time players, both the networks and the cable channels, they don't realize the consumer makes the appointment now, they're in control, and if they can't watch it when they want to, oftentimes they don't watch it at all.

And you put out your album and nothing happens.

But why should there be an album?

Albums used to be half an hour, but then when CDs replaced vinyl and cassettes, an album could be seventy minutes, who had the time? But it was financially lucrative. Now the economics are completely different. Oftentimes only the hit is streamed, listeners are not interested in the rest of the dreck. So why make it? This is the tradition musicians can't understand. Sure, if you have an album you can get reviews, you can concentrate your publicity around it, but it doesn't matter! Only your fans are gonna listen anyway.

So you can do whatever you want. Which is one of the reasons hip-hop and pop dominate. They don't wait years between releases, they put out multiple albums a year, singles whenever they want to, they're in touch with the audience, those in the other genres are not.

And since hip-hop lives online, it dominates the streaming chart. We knew hip-hop was popular, we didn't know it was THIS popular until streaming, just like we didn't know country was that popular until Soundscan.

Now some might say playlists are the new gatekeepers. But the truth is, list makers don't want to piss off the labels, who they depend upon. There was one playlist that mattered, Rap Caviar, and then Tuma Basa bolted to YouTube for more money and was never heard from again. And if Alphabet were smart, it would buy Spotify today, because none of their streaming services have gotten traction, and YouTube and Spotify would meld together well.

Now in the old days, the hits were all that mattered. Then FM gave non-single acts spins and whole new genres of music flared. But this is not happening in streaming because everybody's still hampered by the old model, where only the big hits matter.

But then Lee Abrams came along and codified FM playlists and AOR radio was king and the music business was never healthier.

Will someone come along and codify Spotify and the rest of the streaming services? That's what we're waiting for, someone to make sense of the tsunami of tracks. But the streaming services are run by techies, and if they promote one track they leave another out and the industry gets pissed, whereas with radio music was just fuel for advertising, where the real dollars were. But music is the heartbeat of the streaming services.

So now what?

This limited genre streaming will come to an end eventually. Something will break the hegemony. Because there's too much unoccupied land waiting to be inhabited. This is how Warner/Reprise became the dominant label in the seventies, they signed multiple genres of acts, no one does that anymore.

And the labels are downsizing and investing in anything but music as they continue to try and make their nut. So they're leaving a giant opportunity.

The internet has proven there's an audience for everything, however small in some cases. But in music, we're narrowing the offerings, that makes no sense.

All we hear about is Beyonce, is she truly the only thing happening in music? This myopic focus on limited product is the antithesis of the internet ethos. It's why AT&T canned the old regime at HBO. Sure, it was the true Tiffany network, but it didn't make enough product! In other words, AT&T was smarter than the Hollywooders.

And there are a lot of people smarter than those in music.

But there's just not enough money in it.

But there will be. And then we'll see change.


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CNNi

Yazhou was in Hong Kong.

Maybe you grew up with this technology, but for those of us who grew up in the twentieth century, it's positively amazing. It's kind of like asking my mother what it was like before television, I couldn't fathom it. And now I've lived through a revolution myself, a technical revolution, the internet. It's commonplace. Even the government has you fill out forms online. Twenty years ago people were afraid to enter their credit card number, now we live on our phones and...

My phone said Portland, OR. I don't know about you, but this past week I've been inundated with calls talking about taxes and social security. I'm savvy enough to know they're scams, but the worst thing is if only a few people bite, they make their numbers. So they keep dialing, and I keep blocking. But then they call on other numbers. It's a cat and mouse game I tell you.

Usually my junk calls come from Gardena, CA. Have you been to Gardena? The odds of me knowing someone from there are...nil.

So I don't pick those up anymore.

And to tell you the truth, I don't get many phone calls to begin with. I rarely talk on the phone. So if someone is dialing me, is it important?

You know, you wait all day for a call and then a number comes up that's not in your address book and you decide to let it go to voice mail and then you can't call back, you can't connect, it drives you nuts.

But this call from Portland, OR... No message was left, but there was a text, it was Deborah from CNNi. Now I know if they're looking for me they want me to come on, but I'm out of town, I can't go to the studio. So we're texting back and forth and we agree we'll Skype and dial in the time and...

This is for real business. Oftentimes I deal with companies that are untogether. But they're gonna test the connection a half hour before and that's when I get the text from Yazhou.

Now at this point in time, unique names are not uncommon, you don't think much about it. And a young woman comes on the Skype screen and she has me adjust the angle of my laptop and close the door behind me and we discuss some technical stuff, and then she asks me what I thought about BTS on SNL.

Now I start to wax rhapsodic, telling her I loved the first number, but not the second, where they rapped. And I figure Yazhou was gonna give me the inside spin, being from the demo, and that's when she tells me she's in Hong Kong, and that SNL is blocked there.

Now Yazhou goes on to testify about BTS. Smiling as she says that America finally gets it. And I start to kvell. I'm sitting in a condo on a laptop using hotel wifi talking to a young woman in Hong Kong, who's just doing the technical work, the actual show is gonna be done in Atlanta.

And she speaks English perfectly. I figure she's doing time over there, paying her dues. But she says she's Chinese! I can't believe it, I ask her if she was born in the U.S.A. Nope. But she did spend a few years in school over here, but only a few.

And I'm intersecting with the Chinese miracle on my laptop. Here's this educated young woman confident in her skills and... Forget all the xenophobic Americans, I can't fathom it. How did this happen? We feel we can contact anybody in the world whenever we want to. And thirty years ago we thought fax was a breakthrough!

And then I'm connected to Atlanta and we have fun talking about BTS. The anchor asks me if I really think BTS on SNL was better than Gary Clark Jr on the same show, and I say DEFINITELY! Because Gary Clark, Jr. can't write a song to save his life. He's an excellent guitar player, but they don't let the Korean boy/girl bands out in the world until the songs are perfected.

And I'm going on how New Kids On The Block was the progenitor. Oh, don't e-mail me about some act from the sixties, I get it, you're a muso and I must be wrong. And then Lou Pearlman perfected the formula, with the dance moves and better songs/production, i.e. Max Martin. And then came One Direction, from a TV show, but they famously didn't dance. But their career was driven not by radio hits, but online mania. And now BTS has the songs, the dance moves, the meaning, yes, there are messages in their music, just ask their fans, and once again, it all happened online, the traditional music business was caught flat-footed. Yes, the album's coming out on Columbia, but they're at the end of the food chain, this was built by people who'd been doing it a long time who were confident in their endeavors and knew it was just a matter of time until the U.S. caught on.

And then John asked me about Blackpink, and I said it was a veritable movement. And it's so exciting, these Korean acts breaking the hip-hop/pop hegemony. They could have been created in the U.S., but NO!

This shows you what the internet can do.

And I'm still amazed.


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Virality Is History

Nothing catches fire anymore.

Unless it's Notre Dame Cathedral.

Or to put it another way, we haven't had that spirit here since 2012, with "Gangnam Style."

Of course there are exceptions, most notably with Mayor Pete. But that was based on substance, and the truth is politics/Washington D.C. is the internet of the era. As for entertainment?

And high school kids. They're in a pressure cooker, so their stuff spreads and we're told it's dominant but it's not. That's the failure of streaming charts. They bury all but the popular. Non hip-hop/pop acts percolate in the marketplace over time. They're sold one by one. Therefore, they don't shoot up the chart immediately and get no publicity, but they're real.

You just can't reach anybody anymore. There's no place everybody is. A teenager wouldn't be caught dead on Facebook, and a lot of boomers dropped out years ago. As for Twitter...forget the bots, most people signed up for an account, found the service too difficult, and never went back. So it's a small population tweeting and reading. Furthermore, check out the number of followers of the mega-tweeters. Unless they're household names, their numbers never break five digits, and are oftentimes much less. And most followers who are actually on Twitter don't see the tweet, so why do it? It's a small population tweeting on a regular basis, and most people don't need to follow the news in real time, so...you can tweet and have no effect.

Or post a YouTube video. If you're going for subscribers now, good luck. The influencer race peaked a couple of years ago, and those not superstars have moved on to Instagram, which is Twitter with pictures, with about an equal effect. Instagram is about documenting your life, which after the newness wears off, other people are uninterested in. It's vapidity on parade. So expect posting to decline.

But the truth is if you're trying to gain a fanbase from scratch, good luck. Be thankful anybody is paying attention at all.

You can post it, but that does not mean people will read it, never mind share it. We're all overburdened with info, so we only forward the most fascinating, the most important, which is very little. And the dirty little secret is nobody reads it anyway. Bump into them and ask them, they'll try to fake it, but the truth will be revealed.

Kind of like those e-mail newsletters with articles to read. You sign up and click through a couple of times, but then you stop, the information is not vital. God, think of how many articles have been forwarded to you that you haven't read.

We all watch different TV shows and read different books and listen to different music. So nothing catches fire and blows up, because no one's got the time for what they're already interested in.

So marketers furiously look for publicity in newspapers, blogs, believing it will start a fire. But it won't unless it's truly eye or ear-popping. It has to be equivalent to the Beatles, or at least Adele, to get traction.

Otherwise, you've got to convert people one by one. Which sellers hate. Because it's slow and difficult and you win or lose on your merits. It's hard to fake people out, and they're certainly not going to tell anybody else.

So, it's about train-wreck or quality. And even then, word is gonna spread slowly. Just look at all the clickbait on legitimate websites. You know the drill, lurid headline and when you click through you're inundated with ads, so you don't.

Marketers have brought this upon themselves. We're overloaded, we're not paying attention. We have to hear it from a trusted source before we'll click.

So nothing lights a fire on the internet overnight.

Which means that big publicity campaigns fall flat. And if you can see the sell beneath the supposed event, people are turned off. That's what killed viral music videos.

So there is no overnight success. No instant adoption. And that's what the system was built for, to create a towering edifice overnight.
There's no sure-fire way to the top.

Own it.


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Re-Bobby Gale/Gary Stewart

What tragic news regarding Bobby Gayle.

I recall Bobby mostly from those early 80's days in Toronto, not so long after he joined Polygram as a promo guy.
Back then Simple Minds were very much still finding our way in North America and needing all the support we could muster. Luckily, we got plenty of that from Bobby Gayle.

I have vivid memories of being in the car with Bobby as we travelled to the various radio stations. I also recall stopping at his house back then and meeting his young family.
And yes, his love for Roxy Music was even bigger than mine. This he would show by allowing me to listen to various Roxy bootleg recordings as we put in the miles covering Ontario.

I liked Bobby very much and was delighted to meet him again backstage in Montreal not so long ago.
It gave me the chance to look him in the eye and say thanks for all that he had done for Simple Minds.

My thoughts are with his family and friends today.

Best to you,

Jim Kerr

______________________________________


Bobby and I were co-Music Directors at CHOM in 1978. He was doing pm drive and I was 22:00 to 02:00. He was brought in to raise the professionalism bar amongst the on-air staff. Pretty sure it was our fearless leader, John Mackie, who hired him. He had lots of radio experience and mixed some laid back but clearly top 40 chops on top of a more interesting and eclectic music mix than was available anywhere else in Canada.

To say Bobby was a Brian Ferry fan would be a sharp understatement. He was a super fan. Even dressed the part.

The music he played on CHOM was edgy, mostly British and leading edge. I remember some of the record stores were pissed at him because they could not get their hands on the imports he was playing and folks were coming in to ask for them.

Gary Slaight hired him away from us and moved him to Q 107 where he put in some of his best years.

I've known a lot of music fans in my life but really can't think of a more devoted one than Bobby. If there's a rock and roll heaven he'll be the leader of the band. And they'll be looking great!!!!

Rob Braide

______________________________________


Bob,

On behalf of our Canadian Music Industry, thank you, for your kind words regarding the one-and-only, Bobby Gale.

We are all still reeling from the news of his tragic death, as word passes from musician to musician to agent to publisher etc As a matter of fact the strangest thing happened. Michael McCarty of SOCAN and I were together last night and Bobby's name came up in our conversation and yet, today, as we commiserated over his loss, for the life of us, we couldn't quite remember why. Just one of those eerie, human, connections I guess.
And now, he is gone.

Bobby as you well know, was one of the most colourful of characters. He ate, breathed and yes, shit, music. It was his life. You made me smile when you mentioned his love of Bryan Ferry and how he emulated his look. All of us here just kind of "went with it" and it never fazed on us, that even although Bobby was no "spring chicken" he left this world still looking like the Bryan Ferry of 1985!!
Bobby will be sadly missed, and when you are up here very soon, for Canadian Music Week, and you are interviewing my dear pal, Michael McCarty, regarding his induction into the Canadian Music & Broadcast Industry Hall of Fame, I am sure Bobby's name may pop up. He will be missed.

Cheers Bob,
Alan Frew ( Glass Tiger)

______________________________________


I didn't know about Bobby Gale. Knew him 40 years at least. I'm in shock

Larry LeBlanc

______________________________________


When I was a critic way the hell back and Bobby Gale was a deejay at Q107 in Toronto I described his shift as "nighttime cool" and always referred to that fondly even a few months ago when we spoke on the phone. It's one thing to mourn what was once for us. Quite another to mourn one of us.

So sad.

Jonathan Gross

______________________________________


Fuck.

What a day.

Worked with the guy for the entire 80s at PolyGram..

We had a rough time, but also a lot of laughs, and fun..

Ultimately, after we were both out of the business, we made peace and became friends..

We both loved pop music and that was part of our ongoing connection--but also we had history you can't replicate with anyone else.

He loved pop music and had an incredible ear. Not only that, he really had a connection to it and a knack for it in a way that many people wish they had, but don't..

I know I should write something meaningful, but frankly it's too hard right now..

I feel like I've entered the twilight zone. I know people eventually die, but this is too soon.
Too abrupt.

And it's all still sinking in.

Karen Gordon

______________________________________


Thanks for mentioning Bobby Gale.

He was one-of-a-kind, a passionate record nerd who literally died because of his love of music. And, we had been talking only a month ago about Bryan Ferry's upcoming Avalon tour and how we were going to work on getting tickets so he could come to NY and we'd go together.

Still processing.

John Parikhal

______________________________________


Bob

Bobby Gale turned me on to you and "The Lefsetz Letter" right around the time you were transitioning from a faxed newsletter to viral email. In classic Bobby fashion he ranted so passionately and so long about "The Lefsetz Letter" that I knew if I started reading it two things would happen:

1. He would stop hounding me.
2. Maybe I would learn or enjoy something.

Of course both came true. Such was everyone's relationship with him. Like nearly everyone who knew him, our initial connection was a result of his passion for music we had in common. He was drawn like a moth to a flame to a record I was involved with that Bob Ezrin produced - The Kings "This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide". We became friends and he would surface once in a while raving about a new record.

Ten years later while I was running EMI Music Publishing Canada, he helped Barb Sedun and I build our first artist development success story with the band Moist. He had left Polygram and was looking for work. We had signed Moist and wanted to help them release a single and album independently. I said "come over here and you can be the radio promoter, manufacturer, and distributor!"

Now in those days (early '90s), a commercially successful indie record was nearly unheard of, and at first he struggled to get radio traction on the single "Push". Luckily then the band made a low-cost but devastatingly brilliant video of it. When he saw it, Bobby started levitating, and ran off to storm the gates of Much Music, determined to get them to play this "historic" video, or die trying. I fully expected to flip on the news and see some sort of hostage incident, and was considering purging our files of any reference to him working for us. Instead, he came rushing back to the office with an incredible story. According to Bobby, during their staff meeting to assess the video, Much Music head Denise Donlon switched it off before it was finished, turned to her staff and declared "we're going to make this band happen".

A few weeks later, with the video and single rocketing towards #1, Bobby came in my office clutching a stack of papers that he said were orders for the album. ''Michael, I cant keep up with the orders. We can't press and ship them fast enough. We are going to hold back the band. We have to hand this over to a major label". EMI Records signed them and took it to 4X Platinum.

I will miss him and his passion.

Best

Michael McCarty

______________________________________


Nice to see your kind words about Bobby Gale. First met him, when we worked at Q-107 in Toronto. He was quirky, in a charming way. Of the countless time's he made me laugh, was an occasion - decades before the internet - when I arrived at work, greeted by a mischievous smile. I didn't want to give him the pleasure of asking, what was up. Finally, I gave in. He said, "Have you seen the new phone book?" After the obvious answer, he slapped it down and said, "Look me up." There it was ... in bold face: Bobby Gale. Of course, in those days, most people with a public profile had unlisted phone numbers. Not Bobby! I'm having a good laugh typing this note. Ironically, years later, he'd be one of my few contact's who's call display says, "Unknown Caller." It happened two weeks ago.

"Hello, Lee ... It's Bobby."

Kind regards,

Lee Eckley
94.9 The Rock, Toronto

______________________________________


I first met Bobby back in the early to mid 90's when I was just a few years in radio, and all these years later I still vividly remember a night at The Horseshoe Tavern circa 1996.
The Matthew Good Band were playing and getting some traction with their single "Alabama Motel Room" and Bobby was pushing them on the radio.
This was my first time seeing MGB but I did like the single…but live: I was blown away. This was one of those nights where I felt like I was seeing something special. They were tearing up the room and I remember saying to Bobby how I was instantly hooked! You don't forget shows like that….those gigs that remind you how much you love music and seeing a band live.

The next day, Bobby shows up at the office and pops by my studio with a copy of the "Last of the Ghetto Astronauts" album.
He said "Rob…I'm so glad you enjoyed the show last night and I wanted to come by and make sure you had a copy of the album. Thanks for being there and thanks for the support. It really means a lot".

I had no pull or influence for the band on radio…and Bobby knew that.
But he was genuine in his appreciation.
And 23 years later…I've never forgotten that small token of appreciation from Bobby.
Kind of tells you everything you need to know about the man.

Rest in Peace Bobby….the music will play on!

Rob Johnston

______________________________________


You could tell when Bobby believed in a project. He was relentless, sometimes to the point of annoyance, and worked the phone like no one else. But he was always, always professional and I discovered many gems because of him. Sad news. He will be missed.

John Kendle
Winnipeg, Canada

______________________________________


Been following you for a few years. I was/am devastated by the news of Bobby Gale. I worked with him at PolyGram in the late 80's and he took me under his wing. I was in sales but had an equal amount of devotion to the music. Bobby stayed in touch with me until the early 2000's as I progressed into a songwriter myself. He was always truthful and encouraging, even when it hurt to hear the truth. He was a pioneer and music fan to the core. RIP Bobby

Randy Hutchings
Black Summer Season 1

______________________________________


RIP Gary Stewart, he was a lovely man, and I have as many records in my collection - albeit lovingly put together reissues - with his name on them than just about anyone else I can think of. I'd like to particularly thank you for mentioning Bobby Gale. He was as devoted to music and Bryan Ferry as you say. No one flew the flag for the latter higher and no one loved to discover a new band more . . . provided they had a recording he could play on the radio!

Remember you too are loved Bob!

Best wishes,

Merck Mercuriadis

______________________________________


Gary never asked me to put him on the guest list at The Teragram Ballroom. He was too supportive. When he was there a couple of weeks ago I realized I hadn't seen him since the Christmas party. He told me that it was probably the last one. When I asked why, he just said it was getting to be a lot of work.

Robin Danar

Teragram Ballroom

______________________________________


Thanks for writing about my long-time friend and mentor, Gary Stewart. I think you gave him short shrift about Bad Company; Gary was an equal opportunity music lover. If it was good, he dug it. I had the honor and the pleasure of being a member of his crew in the Rhino A&R Department, which he helmed for somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 years. He was either directly responsible for or oversaw about 700 Rhino compilations, either single-artist Best-Of's or various-artists genre compilations. His immense generosity and caring for the wellbeing of others was unparalleled by any human being I have ever known. He touched the lives of so many, and the outpouring of sorrow on Facebook reflects that. Along with Rhino founders Richard Foos and Harold Bronson, he made the corporate culture at Rhino a unique and wonderful place to work. He fostered social consciousness in us all. The company shared it's wealth with underprivileged and needy communities -- because of Gary.

So why did a man who was loved by so many -- and he knew he was loved -- take his own life? Depression. Yeah, he lived alone, he never had a long-time relationship that I know of, his expertise as a music archivist was no longer valued in the new music paradigm. But were those the reasons? Depression is an illness. He knew he had it, but kept it hidden from his huge circle of friends (myself included). From the few people he opened up to, I've gathered that he knew what was happening and took the appropriate measures to combat it: therapy, antidepressants. But Depression is a disease, and a formidable one. I have it. I live alone. I take antidepressants. The one saving grace is that I have children and a grandchild. What keeps me from pulling the plug? I've seen what Gary's suicide has done to so many of my long-time friends and comrades, and I imagine what mine might do to my kids. So, I abide.

Ted Myers

______________________________________


RIP GARY STEWART.
A true music man...an A&R Visionary.
He once loved an artist I had and he took it from a re-issue at Rhino to a 3 Album deal which I personally negotiated with Richard Foos.
Harold Bronson was looking over our shoulder and always seemed to be chewing a carrot in his office. This was about the time Billy Vera broke Rhino to #1. Very exciting to be in that building at that time and experience how those three worked together. Gary described Rhino to me like this: Were cheap and we recycle old garbage."
Gary Stewart was the eyes and ears of Rhino and one thing is for sure. The philosopy they brought forth reinvented the music business. Gary was all about the music and getting what deserved to be out there, out there. You could not help but learn a lot.

Terry Wright
Big Blue Ocean Recordings, LLC

______________________________________


Gary Stewart's passion for music was unrivaled in a business where it counts less than which law school you attended. I first met Gary back in the days when Rhino had just structured a licensing and distribution deal with EMI.
It was a poor fit because the EMI bigwigs didn't understand catalog. It was constantly being fought over among various entities at EMI. Sure they loved the Beatles, but who the hell is Fats Domino and why is he important? The deal garnered some much-needed market share for Rhino and a certain amount of respect - though at Capitol, many hated the young upstart brand.

"What gives them the right to release our artists?" one executive asked.
"Uh, an executed contract", I volunteered.

The ugly truth was that Rhino was ten times better at producing reissues and box sets than EMI, which was hamstrung ruined by the bean counters who, in the interests of the balance sheet, would employ tactics like deleting a track from a reissue to save a few pennies. Or ban the use of product stickers because so much money was being spent annually. It was like demanding employees use less toilet paper.

But led by Gary and the rest of the Rhino gang, their releases were the gold standard. Some of us at EMI knew this of course, and it was embarrassing.

"How can a little upstart do such great work?", the heads of EMI demanded.

The truth, of course, was that Rhino's standard for quality was Porsche-like, while we were still trying to achieve Chevy's.

Gary Stewart advanced the passion for music. It was an obsession, and we music geeks were all the better for it - as were the artists, producers and everyone else who loved music.

Tom Cartwright

______________________________________


Thank you for the eulogy for dear Gary Stewart, the kindest friend any of us ever had in the music business. Boy oh boy is this a loss for us all. He was someone I really wanted to make records for, because he knew so much and cared so much.

CHARLES KENNEDY invisible hands music

______________________________________


Thanks for this Bob.

Gary was a lovely person and perhaps my only real friend in Hollywood.

And he always had some CDs he thought you should hear, and he gave you a copy.

Billy Bragg phoned me about the loss.

He more than anyone was LA for us Billy and I (and the travelling team).

The good news is that there is really no need for me to ever go to LA again.

Thanks for all your great work and insights.

Hope to see you again somewhere on our travels.

Cheers,

Peter Jenner

______________________________________


Three things. Most importantly Gary Stewart. This was a guy who had an unbridled passion for great rock and roll, an unquenchable thirst for more of it, and a deep knowledge about it all. Yes, he was also about TV, movies, DVD's, books. But music was the driving force in his life. As it has been for so many of us of a certain age. I'd known him since the Rhino store days as well, again, like so many of us. His career arc was amazing and well-deserved. He earned it with his passion and his ability and his perseverence. His parties (the July picnics in Elysian Park, some of which I attended) and the Xmas "Losers Party," none of which I ever attended, are the stuff of legends. Started on shoestrings and then the Xmas parties growing and growing and growing. I never heard anyone say an unkind word about him, and I never heard him say an unkind word about anyone else. Yes, his opinions were firm and well-articulated. I worked on a few Rhino compilations, mostly with Harold but also of course to some extent with Gary. You might not see him or talk to him for a while, years even, but whenever you did, it was as if it had been maybe a coupla days, you picked up right where you'd left off. I know there is a tendency to glorify folks when they pass away, but in this case, all the tributes are sincere, not puffery. Because Gary has no agenda except to share his passions with his friends, and make new friends by sharing his passions with strangers.

As for the Billy Vera record, Rhino had released a compilation album five years earlier with "At This Moment," and when it was used in a climactic scene on "Family Ties," NBC's switchboard lit up like an Xmas tree on fire. I was helping out at Rhino at the time on some stuff, and had actually called NBC earlier that week to let them know about the Rhino album in case they got any phone calls from viewers. This was, of course, long before Google or internet searches or Amazon or YouTube. And I'd suggested in a marketing meeting that Rhino try to get more copies of the album into stores in case the TV show created some additional demand. But nobody anticipated the insane response that took place. So it wasn't like Rhino rush-released a record. They HAD the record. And they sold a lot of copies!

And, finally, "early Sixties music sucked, where was Chuck Berry?" Um, in JAIL on trumped up racist charges.

Toby Mamis

______________________________________


Bob -

I met Gary Stewart in the spring of 2005. Steve had asked him to come to iTunes but he didn't want to leave his LA homebase and team, so he hired me to be the full time Cupertino part of the Stewart operation. He was the only other person at iTunes with as extensive a record store background as mine, and we spent the entire job interview nerding out on Os Mutantes, Jeff Lynne, Todd Rundgren, and power pop and I guess that conversation never really ended. God, we made such good work back then, thousands and thousands of playlists constructed, designed, articulated, and maintained with meticulous detail, all with the aim of turning everyone onto the most important thing: the music. Gary's mere presence was a steady reminder that music and art are the most important things, and the reason we were there, while others with no culture cred played office politics and cutthroat career moves. Those were beneath him. When Gary mentioned donating to his foundation, you did it. When he thought he might like to compile movies and TV, you were all in. His moral and artistic compass was always unerringly aimed at the heart, and it made me believe in him totally.

When Gary left iTunes the first time, we had a small party for him. I remember standing in the parking lot with him after it, clutching the framed T-shirt we had all signed (David Sams had written "IN GARY WE TRUST") as a memento, just uncontrollably sobbing all over him because I couldn't imagine Gary not in my daily life, and what a loss it was for iTunes to have let him go. I left iTunes soon after, I think, and joined the App Store, but the work that I made with Gary and the iTunes Essentials team remains what I am most proud of during my time at Apple.

Gary was so lovely, so human, so palpably vulnerable and kind. He made you want to do your best work for him. And we did.

For Gary, success and resources meant that he could spread the word just a little farther, with more reach, and also to help those who lacked resources. His ego never ever came into it, and in his eyes, each person, no matter who you were, was a fan to connect with, or a Freaks and Geeks completist waiting to happen.

Gary was a mentor, friend, collaborator. The loss -not just for me but the entire artistic community- is massive. There'll never be another like this wise, caring, generous man. I love you, Gary.

- Windy Chien
http://windychien.com

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History Of The Beach Boys Part Two-SiriusXM This Week

Tune in tomorrow, Tuesday April 16th, to Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.

Hear the episode live on SiriusXM VOLUME: siriusxm.us/HearLefsetzLive  

If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app: siriusxm.us/LefsetzLive 


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Nichification

BTS On SNLFirst everybody was gonna have a website, then they were gonna have a blog, then a page on Facebook and now pictures on Instagram. What do all these endeavors have in common? They're passing fads. Because it was too much work and too few people were paying attention.

America is evolving into niches. I'm not talking entertainment, I'm talking people themselves. Zuckerberg has it right that we want private groups, because these are the only people who care about us.

It was all about garnering attention. But after you connected on Facebook with all the people you went to school with and distanced yourself from for good reason, what was your next move?

It's kind of like the seventies. After the tumultuous sixties, we had the back to the land movement. And the personal development movement, i.e. EST, and Tom Wolfe labeled the era the "Me Decade."

We are on the verge of another Me Decade. History repeats, but always with a twist. People are overwhelmed with information. They can't make sense of it. They're trying to figure out how to tune it out.

Yes, you have the coastal baby boomers with their anti-smartphone campaigns, but ignore them, they just want to jet back to a past that will never come back. Your smartphone opens your life, makes it easier, and it's all personalized to you. This is the personalization that will become prominent in the twenties.

I'm not talking about tech personalization, robot personalization, algorithm personalization, this personalization will come from the users themselves. They'll choose the info they want and the people they want to connect with. And it will be relatively few.

The internet allows us to reach everybody, but everybody is not listening. We had the Vine people, and now the social media "influencers." They're a fad. Because the truth is most people don't care about them. Sure, there's room for a few big ones, but...

I'll give you an example. Wipe out your Twitter account and start over. Good luck getting the same number of followers. Or start a new Facebook page and see how many friends you can garner. That's something people did years ago that they're no longer into, they delete the invites. As for Instagram, fine if you're posting the photos for your friends, for your circle, but if you think you can reach more, you're deluded.

That's right, putting on your best face, curating your image, that will be passe. We're evolving into a more honest era, where it's all about what your friends think of you. And the truth is they'll forgive flaws, that's what makes you human. And all those makeup tutorials on YouTube, the purveyors are going to give up and not be replaced.

This is a complete reset. A disassembling of the twentieth century model of gatekeepers and number ones. And the early internet model of virality. Virality is almost dead. No one has the time for it. If your friend recommends something, you'll check it out, otherwise you'll ignore it.

Friends have points of reference. There will be a switch to real life as opposed to internet life. Of course friends will utilize the internet and the smartphone to ease their existence, but they'll mostly use these tools to gain information and communicate with their friends.

So marketing will become ever more difficult.

But also the aspirational culture we live in will decline. Everybody wanted to be rich and famous. Turns out very few people can be rich and famous. So why try? Everybody was gonna write an app, nobody does that anymore. Apps are something you get for free, they're not a way to get rich.

As for getting rich... The millennials and Gen-Z are far different from their forebears. It's not enough just to have money, how did you earn it, do you give back? Forget the disinformation paraded in the media, about influencers frolicking and flying on private jets. Everybody's resetting their aspirations. They want fulfillment, not fame. And no one can be as famous as the stars of yesteryear.

It's like America will become a nation of small towns. Because you don't want to feel like a number.

Amazon is becoming the king of advertisers, because that's where you go to shop, you only see ads for what you're interested in. Google is losing. As for the ads you get in websites, where Facebook and Google triumph? Turns out algorithms don't work, because they're not personal. We're looking for the personal touch in the machine age. Start with honesty and credibility and work from there. Everybody hates spam.

And you can be on TV and unknown.

Have an article about you in the paper and get no traction.

You've got to infect group by group. And the process is much slower, even though the internet is instantaneous.

We're overloaded, we're fatigued with what's going on. We don't want to hear about new, new, new, we just want to have relationships with a few enterprises and call it a day.

The internet barons are out of touch because they think tech solves all problems.

But that is untrue. And the public knows it.

So everybody will have a story and only their close friends will know it.

And everyone will be happier.


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