The Sparks Brothers Movie

Trailer: https://bit.ly/3kzLoYt

It's now on Netflix. And it starts out so good, but then...

If you read the reviews when it was released in theatres back in June, if you were privy to the insider buzz, you'd think "The Sparks Brothers" is the "Citizen Kane" of rock documentaries, that the band finally gets its due. And I felt this was the case at the beginning, and then...

This is not a slapdash documentary. This is an art film, with the interviews in black and white, it looks fantastic, but...

So we start out in Southern California. Illustrating the Mael brothers' roots. And this is incredibly well done. Just when I was wondering if the boys played sports, you see Russell as a quarterback. And then they both attend UCLA and talk about movies, being influenced by the art films, the foreign films of the era, and you start to kvell, it's a renaissance of what once was, a retelling, when there were no popcorn/tentpole/blockbuster movies, when no one but insiders knew the gross, when it was about testing limits.

And then there's the start of the band and the link between them and Todd Rundgren via Miss Christine. It's history come alive! But then...

I mean the movie starts out as hagiography, talking heads that would make you believe Sparks was as big and influential and noteworthy as well...the Talking Heads! There's no context, this is a tribute movie. Like that BeeGees doc that played on HBO. No, the BeeGees were not as big as the Beatles in the sixties, they were not revered, they were second-tier singles makers, sorry to burst your bubble. And Sparks, then named Halfnelson, come out of the Beatle boom, when everybody was forming a band, but by time they get their record deal times were different. Truth is the touchy-feely mind trip records came out in the late sixties, by time the seventies hit the focus was on bombast and commercialism. Of course there are exceptions, but I'm talking trends, generalities here. So Sparks was out of time. But they did have the benefit of Rundgren, and ultimately after switching labels to Island, they had a hit, "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us." And they were much bigger in England, but the album "Kimono My House" did gain traction in the U.S. with hipsters and...

Then they reference KROQ, which truly blew up Sparks in America in the early eighties.

And then there was that duet with Jane Wiedlin in the MTV era, "Cool Places," and then...

HOW DID THESE GUYS STAY ALIVE? WHERE WAS THE MONEY COMING FROM? WHO ARE THEY? ARE THEY MARRIED, DO THEY HAVE CHILDREN?

At the end of the film, Ron says all you need to know is in their records, but yeah, I'm gonna listen to TWENTY FIVE ALBUMS???

To be honest, I almost fell asleep twice in the last forty five minutes. It was just endless. Maels hunker down, change direction, make a new album and are back! Then repeat. This is the whole damn movie. They cover each and every album, it's for fans only.

If you're not a fan, you won't be when it is over, assuming you can get through it.

There are lessons, how if you want to sustain you must change, when the audience, hard core fans, don't want you to, but...

Beck. Is he really that big a Sparks fan, or is he included just for marquee value. As for all musicians on buses ultimately talking about Sparks, well...no. Absolutely not! As a matter of fact, the only people I know who ever talk about Sparks are the Rhino Records crew, the Jewish suburbanites who didn't play, at least not commercially successfully, but lived for the music nonetheless. And the Maels had Jewish roots, why not mention that, afraid of turning viewers off, the anti-Semitic? The band has Jewish values. There's the humor, the desire not to conform, to do it your way, it's evident throughout but never mentioned.

In other words, "The Sparks Brothers" is totally surface. It's an amazing surface level job. You'll see and hear more than you ever wanted to know. But you won't know how the band fits in context, you won't know so much!

Making a living in music is nearly impossible. Some of the biggest acts in the history of the industry are working day jobs. Everybody's got to eat. And even when they're making their first album, even when they're on "American Bandstand," the Mael brothers are living on government assistance, i.e. food stamps. Living only got more expensive, were they on the dole, how can Ron afford that house?

Almost nobody can afford to follow the Maels' route. You lose your deal. Live business is anemic and...

The Maels stayed home and recorded for six years, not appearing publicly, no albums, no tours... How did they keep going, how did they LIVE?

It pains me to write this ultimately negative review, because I'm a believer, in rock and roll, in the triumph of outsiders. You can love this film on the surface, but is it really that good? It's made incredibly well, but when you go below the surface? I'd much rather pile on and tell you how great it is, on Rotten Tomatoes it's got a 95 and a 98. But those are all fans, critics who live in the dark, who are pulling for the underdog. And the truth is most people are not like them, which is why Sparks is relatively unknown underdog, at least to the youth.

But the saddest and one of the greatest parts of the film is the testimony from Gary Stewart, who is no longer with us. I knew Gary, to tell you the truth I didn't think he was that intellectual, now I know I was wrong. But the rock and roll dream ended for Gary, there's no place for an A&R guy in his sixties, he ran out of jobs and then...

So I'm not saying you shouldn't watch "The Sparks Brothers." If you're a fan, it's a must-see. And if you've got the desire, go for it. But if your time is limited but you're susceptible to hype, don't go there. Or watch the first half. I won't say I want my entire two and a half hours back, then again when I finished it it was dark out and the afternoon was gone.

Hell, I'd like to do a podcast with the Maels, find out who they really are. But maybe they wouldn't even open up with me. Especially now that I pissed them off by not granting a vigorous thumbs-up to their movie. But I still want to know their story. Really, how did they SURVIVE?

P.S. Will they stop releasing these rock docs in theatres? That's when they get all the buzz, and when they finally hit the flat screen there's no noise, I didn't know "The Sparks Brothers" was on Netflix, I stumbled on it. You want to start the entire audience at the same time, so we can talk about your project, cultural currency is what you're looking for, which is the hardest thing to achieve these days. You've got to make the barrier low. As for going to a theatre during Covid? NO WAY!

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The Jake Burton Movie

Trailer: https://bit.ly/3F9nCdB

It's a cultural issue.

I'm not a snowboarder. Back in the aughts, when it looked like snowboarding might put a stake in the heart of skiing, I said it was a religious issue, kind of like being a Jew, I wouldn't switch because I wanted to preserve skiing. I still do. Although in the interim things have changed. Snowboard sales are down. Then again, do we trust statistics? You certainly won't believe them if you ride the slopes of Mammoth Mountain. In California, it's all about snowboarding, it's a direct descendant of the skateboard culture.

And I could tell you all the way snowboarding sucks. Needing to buckle in after every lift ride, sitting in the snow while you do it, I'm always waiting for these wankers. Yes, I've got a ton of friends who snowboard, maybe more than who are skiers! And we constantly give each other crap, because it's the low level rivalries that help us preserve our identities, which make up this melting pot we call America. You don't want everybody to look and feel the same, you don't want to homogenize the country, but we do all need to get along. Which at this point skiers and snowboarders can do, unlike in the late nineties and early years of this century. You see snowboarders were seen as young upstarts who wreaked havoc. And it's hard to argue with this, especially having been hit by a snowboarder under Chair 15 at Mammoth. Let me set the scene. It was late in the day, on a wide slope. I was all the way on the right, coming down from Chair 9, and on the complete other side was a snowboarder, far away, but this guy aimed right at me, came across the slope and hit me! He didn't stop, and after picking myself up and skiing straight down to the bottom I popped off my skis and ran down to the pickup truck he was trying to escape in. I yelled YOU HIT ME! And this beefy, bearded guy rolled down his window and said...DO YOU WANT TO MAKE SOMETHING OF IT?

Ah, that's life. Especially amongst men. Strength and intimidation. And the funny thing is if you don't stand up to people, they needle you more, take advantage, but that's got nothing to do with Jake Burton.

Who grew up upper middle class, tried to make it on Wall Street, hated it and moved to Vermont to make snowboards.

Oh, everybody lies, everybody says they grew up poor. Don't believe anything anyone says on the surface. Go deeper. They say they were just like you when they weren't, and hope you'll believe it, won't give them a hard time, but Jake Burton is not the only person who did this. Everybody lies. It's a rare person who tells the truth! I remember Daryl Hall saying in "Rolling Stone" he was the best singer out there, the blowback was loud and fierce. Then again, things are different now, everybody's a braggart, that's the hip-hop ethos.

So, Burton moves to Londonderry and tries to perfect the snowboard. And on one hand you can see this film as a business story, his gumption, his drive, his success, but that wasn't that interesting to me. Another guy with a dream who succeeded, how about all the people who didn't? The odds are long, you have to sacrifice everything to make it, and most people don't want to, and most people don't make it, so... Don't look for business lessons in Jake's life, because you're not him, only you, and you've got to find out what is special about you and emphasize that.

So, snowboarding starts to get a bit of traction and Jake blows it up. Hires a guy to go from ski area to ski area to get them to allow snowboards. And then the sport hits critical mass.

This is where the contrasts begin, this is the culture I referenced at the top of this screed. Snowboarding gets to the point where it shares the floor with the ski business at a trade show, and the atmosphere couldn't be more different. On the ski side, it was quiet, everybody was wearing a jacket and tie. On the snowboard side? Shaggy hair and casual clothes. And loud music and beer. It was night and day.

This is what killed rock. This is what allowed Shawn and Sean to revolutionize the music business with Napster. The powers-that-be were asleep, and assumed things would stay the same forever.

Not that Jake's vision doesn't get superseded. He models snowboarding competitions after ski racing. He thinks he's making headway, but then the nation is exposed to the west coast style, with its halfpipe a la skateboarding, and he had to turn on a dime. Don't be too afraid to flip. Then again, everybody's so deep in their position these days. It's like the Republicans who voted for infrastructure, now they're ostracized. Then again, this is the problem the Republicans have at the core, their refusal to change. Turns out most people want change, they want improvement of their lives, and when you shut it down you lose in the long run.

Like the ski industry. The more they battled snowboarding, the more kids wanted to do it. It's the ski industry that forced the choosing of sides. It could have embraced snowboarding, but NO!

Rock was long in the tooth. Even to this day. It's formulaic, with its inane outfits, it's for a small coterie. And this coterie wanted nothing to do with hip-hop, which was new and fresh and had a nascent culture building around it. I mean Guns N' Roses comes back on the VMAs and Axl Rose has had a facelift, he immediately dated himself right then, he was in the rearview mirror, because he was no longer authentic, trying to be Peter Pan when regular citizens don't have that option.

And I won't even bother to retell the story of the music business and file-trading. You sued your customers because they were taking advantage of a better distribution system than you were offering? That's the history of the music business, it was brought into the future by Steve Jobs and Daniel Ek, and if you keep saying how great CDs are you're no different from a Republican.

And why does Jake Burton love snowboarding so much? BECAUSE OF THE FREEDOM! Not the freedom to refrain from being vaccinated, but to be out there cutting your own path in the snow with no one telling you what to do. And Jake's goal was to board a hundred days a year, every year. If it's in your blood, you feel the same way, I certainly do. I used to ski a hundred days a year, now only forty or fifty, and it's not enough, I want that hit of freedom, I want that FUN! I mean you sit at home, inactive, and I feel sorry for you, because when you're out in the mountains you feel so alive.

And the truth is snowboarding might be better for powder than skiing. There's only one plank. But skiing has got it all over snowboarding when it comes to moguls, never mind flats. Then again, snowboard boots are so much more COMFORTABLE!

But I don't want to get into the specifics, if you're a skier or snowboarder you know all this, and have discussed and argued it, and if you're not, you probably don't care. That's the hardest thing to do, to get someone to go skiing or snowboarding. Just like it's hard to get people to listen to your music. But once you get that feeling of sliding on snow...most people can't get enough of it.

So Jake builds and empire and...

Oh, one more cultural thing. A guy gets a patent for the snowboard and afraid of being sued, Burton buys it from him. And then Jake starts charging his competitors a royalty. AND ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE! Doesn't matter if he's gonna give the money to charity, it's opposite the culture of snowboarding, which is about being in it together, not being cutthroat. So, Jake stops charging. It's never too late to do the right thing, even though we live in a culture today where everybody just doubles-down.

So I don't care if you're uninterested in snowboarding, you should watch this documentary. Because the same rules apply in so many walks of life. Oppress people who are a bit different at your peril. And the culture is never static, it's always changing, evolving. To quote the bard from Minnesota, he not busy being born is busy dying.

P.S. Everybody in the movie looked like me! As in nobody wore a tie, looks and dress were secondary to what's inside, what you do. If you're gonna be on camera in L.A., you hire a stylist, you get your look on. Meanwhile, Jake's wife Donna looks like she rolled out of bed not long before and is now testifying. It's the hair. Out of style, not shaped, but to her it doesn't matter. That's what living in Vermont is all about. I'm watching this film and I feel at home, living in Vermont changed me, and I've never recovered. I went to Middlebury with my suburban school clothes and then I stopped wearing leather shoes, only wore jeans, you're affected by your experience, where you live. I think dressing up is b.s. Black tie events? Who are you trying to impress?

P.P.S. Speaking of clothing, snowboarders wore loose clothing, whereas skiers wore tight clothing. End result, EVERYBODY ON THE HILL NOW WEARS BAGGY CLOTHING! If you're wearing tight clothing, form-fitting, stretchy, you're laughed at.

P.P.P.S. Oh, did I mention that Donna went to Barnard? And Jake graduated from NYU? Don't judge a book by its cover, it's what's inside that counts. Believe me, I know, I live in Southern California where image is king, the town of two-dimensional phonies with no portfolio.

P.P.P.P.S. Jake Burton was a beacon, a leader, that's what we lack in America today. People who think different who hew to their path and inspire others to follow them. We've got nobody like this in politics, and when the young people want change, they're told it's too progressive, and they must forgo their interests, move to the center, for the good of... Exactly who? Give the Republicans credit, they went where their voters were and still are. The corporations no longer run the Republican party, rather it's the blue collar that's got all the power. Religion, guns, anti-abortion, anti-immigrant... The politicians give the voters on the right exactly what they want. But on the left, NO! The left has to be Republican lite, as if the voters on the right can be convinced to switch parties. You want to know how to get someone to switch? Just live a life so rich they can no longer sit on the sidelines. You don't need to tell people what to do, they'll jump ship themselves! The original rappers didn't tell white suburbanites they had to become infatuated with hip-hop, rather these old rock fans wanted to go where the excitement was! Yes, that's right, one guy who made snowboards knew more about America than the politicians. Because he was in touch with the experience, he was about purity, not compromise. And these values never go out of style. Want to win? Be singular. Don't care what everybody else says. Do what feels right. Be a leader. But be sure to watch the parking meters!

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Donny Osmond-This Week's Podcast

You'll like Donny Osmond after listening to this podcast, he's definitely not a bad apple! We talk about growing up in Southern California, the Osmonds, the Donny & Marie TV show, as well as Vegas and his new album. Donny talks about being broke and needing to resuscitate his career, he's fully aware of his public image. And who inspired his comeback, none other than PETER GABRIEL!

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/donny-osmond/id1316200737?i=1000541478405

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6vPmp8QvbgkrpZftYj9jlS?si=TJ8UjkeCRtaC2Ae0qBQMkw

https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast


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Lucian's Payday

"MPs and music industry bodies criticise pay of Universal head Lucian Grainge - After a bonus payment, Grainge will earn more this year than all UK songwriters did from streaming and sales in 2019": https://bit.ly/3bZdK9w

It's capitalism

What stuns me about this blowback is it took weeks to gain traction. Going public Universal had to put all this in its prospectus, furthermore it was reported, but if you're interested in art more than money, you missed it.

Just like you missed the memo re streaming payouts, which even the U.K. government got right, IT'S THE LABELS' FAULT!

Streaming outlets take approximately 30% of the gross, which is not that high when you consider brick and mortar retail, even YouTube ad revenue splits. But somehow Spotify, et al, are supposed to dig deeper into their pockets, cough up all their running costs and their profits and go out of business in the process. We haven't seen such malarkey since the sixties, when the hoi polloi said music should be FREE! Which music essentially was this century, until Spotify came along and monetized the infringement by providing an easier way to listen to music. People will pay for convenience. And they have, never mind the ad-supported Spotify tier.

Now the truth is major label advances pale in comparison to what they once were. When they were selling overpriced CDs in the eighties and nineties money was raining down and they didn't mind giving some of it to their guaranteed hitmakers. But now, with the slump in revenues at the beginning of this century, with so many other ways to monetize, advances have not concomitantly bounced back up. Furthermore, we don't have the guaranteed hitmakers of yore, ones who've sustained over decades. So...

It's about the money. Not only for you, but investors and Lucian Grainge.

Lucian did the unthinkable, he got the EU to allow him to buy and retain most of Capitol/EMI's assets. For years competing labels tried to buy Capitol/EMI, but they were thwarted at every turn.

And then he readied Universal for sale.

How did he do this? BY MOVING INTO THE MODERN ERA! Yes, Lucian Grainge has more foresight than seemingly ever act on his roster, save those who made tech investments earlier in this century. It's Lucian who was gung-ho about Spotify. And it saved the recorded music business. Hell, if you waited for the acts to make it happen, it wouldn't. These are the same acts who refuse to see that their cheese has been moved. The last two decades have been all about disruption, but somehow their careers can't be disrupted, meanwhile they can now record on their laptops and put their music on streaming services almost for free and promote online for free. That's the trade-off. Want to win today, embrace the new tools, the new paradigm.

So, Lucian gets Universal in shape to go public. It's not like this was privileged information, it was in the news FOR YEARS! But just like Ticketmaster takes the heat for acts, Spotify took the heat for Grainge.

And a good chunk of Lucian's compensation is a result of bonus clauses, based on the stock price. So, if someone does a good job you want to penalize them? Hell no.

But...

That's a lot of money.

But not compared to a techie. If you're not a billionaire, you don't count. At this wealth level you can't even afford a private jet, you can have a NetJet account, but only a big swinging dick can afford the largesse of a private jet. It's really a dick thing, comparing units, because most people would do better with fractional ownership. Then again, how many people in America have enough wealth to afford fractional ownership?

Now the truth is if you want to make money, don't go into the music business. The music business is to a great degree still pure thievery, but the barrier to entry is nonexistent. To be a doctor you need endless years of education. You need to be smart and do the work. Same deal with the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, there's a good chance they have an MBA. Maybe an uneducated sot can make a living in finance, but don't bet on it, it's the educated with their old boy network who make the big bucks consistently.

Yes, that's another feature of the straight world. The ability to make double digit millions year after year. That's nearly impossible to do as an artist, even the Rolling Stones can't tour every year, you've got to let the market lay fallow, to replenish demand.

Now the truth is entertainment executives have always been overpaid. It started in the movie business. But that's all smoke and mirrors. You can be in a blockbuster and the studio still says the film is unprofitable and you're not owed anything. But in music, we can now see the streams on Spotify, hard data, WHERE IS OUR MONEY?

In the hands of the major labels.

Now in truth the music business flipped thirty years ago, despite so many of today's artists not even being born then, never mind knowing the history. Tommy Mottola ushered in an era where the executive was more powerful than the act, and usually had a longer career. And the label clawed back power. They decided what could be released, it was no longer the seventies where you recorded off the radar, delivered the LP and the label had to put it out unchanged.

And if we go back to that era, Mottola put the knife in Walter Yetnikoff, who used his relationship with Peter Guber and Jon Peters, who'd hoodwinked Sony into letting them run their newly acquired Columbia Pictures, to get Sony to buy CBS Records. And when there's a sale, there's always a healthy profit. Just ask David Geffen, who made $500 million selling his label to Matsushita!

But Lucian did not own Universal. And it could have gone public without him, but it's doubtful the price would have been as high.

Which is all to say that under the rules of traditional world capital markets of the twenty first century, Lucian Grainge earned his money. He started at the bottom, he worked his way up, that's nearly impossible to do. One can say it's harder to get to where Lucian Grainge did than to become a hit artist. As far as clawing that cash back, forget about it, it's history, it's all in black and white, and it'll be forgotten, just like Clive Calder's multi-billion sale two decades ago. And just like Calder took his money and went home, eventually Lucian will be done too, like every other exec, it's only the music that remains.

And it's all owned by the three major labels, that's why they'll never go away, they own the history of recorded music, and they're using it as leverage. That's why they have such sway over streaming services and anybody who wants to use music in the future.

And in that history, there were a ton of flops. But some megahits, which if royalties are owed are de minimis, the rates being so low. Yes, used to be assumed that the label would screw you, and you wanted the money up front, because you knew they'd never account honestly.

And then there were reversion clauses, such that Aerosmith got back their masters and could then license and sell them again, for double digit millions.

Do I think it's fair that Lucian Grainge made more money in the year than all of the acts on his label? No. But as you can see, it's more complicated than it appears.

Also, if you're a new act, you don't have to make a deal with a major label, it's your choice.

And the major labels missed the publishing game. Hipgnosis and Primary Wave bought the greatest hits of the rock era and are using them as leverage, they own so many assets, expect the publishing share to go up. Not that the money will flow to the writer/owners, THEY SOLD OUT! You take the cash at a price. Or you could not take the cash and the asset could fall in value, that's the risk you take.

But...record labels need to pay artists more. I mean how in hell did Universal have all this money to pay Lucian Grainge in the first place? The labels have been crying in their beer for years, and in the process they lowered advances, enacted 360 deals and made even more money than they did before. The artists have leverage, but you've either got to have monster hits or the artists must band together, which they are, to attack SPOTIFY???

I mean Daniel Ek made his billions, BUT HE BUILT IT! It's not like there's a slew of overpaid people at Spotify. How can there be, having to give 70% of every dollar to rights holders? Which is why Spotify is expanding into podcasts and more, BECAUSE MUSIC DOES NOT SCALE!

So please stop beating up on streaming services, other than YouTube, which deserves the hate with its horrible, greedy splits. There's no more money to give.

But as illustrated by this Grainge payout, there's plenty more money in the coffers of the labels. But we've never figured out how to extract it. Because the label lives on, but almost all of the acts do not. And acts don't want to piss off their label, and they're afraid of organizing and wasting time and trade secrets. That's right, every musical act is competing against every other one, there's only so much money in the marketplace, the public can't afford to see EVERYONE!

So I think Lucian got paid too much. Then again, I think the entire compensation scale is way out of whack, especially if you didn't start/build the company. If it's your idea and you build it from scratch you should be entitled to big bucks, although you should pay taxes. But how can you make this much working for the man? Where is the RISK?

So Lucian Grainge is an example of this insane paradigm, but it's not only him, and he's keeping up with the Joneses, you may not live in their neighborhood but Grainge does, he wants equivalent compensation.

And, as far as big corporate paydays in recorded music to come? I don't see any, BECAUSE THERE ARE NO ASSETS FOR SALE! No record label to go public, this is a one time deal.

But all the artists, even Paul McCartney, are lining up to pile on Spotify. Demonstrating ignorance, which money and business talent runs circles around.

You're an artist, if you have success, use it.

As for the government protecting you, good luck. And the government can hurt as well as help you, you're better off working outside the world of regulation.

But that brings us back to the top. How in hell was the Universal acquisition of Capito/EMI allowed? Giving Universal untold market share and power, which believe me the company exercises.

But that's in the rearview mirror. We're going forward. Universal is no longer the only shop in town. Used to be if you weren't with a major, you couldn't get your album distributed, now ANYBODY can get their music distributed. Listened to? That's another thing. But that's where the money is, in listens, and if you retain the rights and people continue to listen you've got quite the annuity.

The major labels have less power than ever before. Radio, their ace in the hole, is at best the cherry on top in the process of making a hit. And youngsters don't even listen to terrestrial radio with all its ads in an on demand world. And as far as mainstream publicity, that's declined in power dramatically also. Today it's about a weird elixir online that you try to push into success. And most times it's based on the acceptance of the music, not hype. Word of mouth spreads the word. But no one has cracked the code yet, the signposts keep shuffling and moving.

So there's a lot of opportunity. Are you up for the risk? With the risk comes the rewards. Remember that.

And if you want to complain, be a student of the game, follow the business news, it's all there, because when you recite idiocies like Spotify needs to pay more the insiders with power just laugh at you. Really. Because you don't understand the game. Which is the first rule to playing it. But the big boys not only play it, they reinvent it. How big is your canvas, how hard are you willing to work? I'm not blaming the artists here, I'm just saying opportunities are not low hanging fruit, you've got to beat the bushes, spend years in the wilderness to make this kind of money. And be able to get along with people and play the politics. That's what Lucian Grainge did, that's why he got paid the big bucks.


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Tesla/GM/Ford

Forget that Elon Musk is crazy, forget the Wall Street valuations, GM or Ford must merge with Tesla or be permanently left behind, on the way to the scrapheap.

It's not where we are today, but where we are tomorrow. And twenty five years of disruption tell us you can be too early, but nothing is as bad as being too late.

The automotive industry is looked at as a manufacturing business. That's old school. Cars in the electric world will be all about software! Remember back in the last century, during the computer boom, how many different manufacturers there were? Packard Bell and Gateway even made major inroads. But manufacturing is a low margin business. The winners were all software companies. Look at Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and Apple's specialty is the integration of software and hardware. As for Amazon...it's got great software, but it also possesses first mover advantage. The first mover, if it continues to innovate, often dominates. As long as it reaches scale. Furthermore, the main driver of Amazon's profits isn't the delivery of goods, with so much human labor involved, but AWS, Amazon Web Services. And now Amazon is losing market share there because it's become about adding software to the hosting package, read Monday's "Wall Street Journal" story for edification:

"Amazon's Cloud's New Boss Is Girding to Defend Turf in the Field Company Pioneered - Adam Selipsky, in interview, says AWS aims to offer more cloud software as Microsoft and Google challenge its market dominance": https://on.wsj.com/3qqdl8P

Forget Rivian, forget all the American electric car startups. But don't forget their Chinese brethren, already in the marketplace, and not only in China, a huge market. All these new companies have to push a heavy rock up a hill that includes not only software, but manufacturing. And one of the reasons Amazon does so well is because it's a trusted name. Do you really want to risk your hard-earned capital on an upstart that may not only work imperfectly, but will leave you high and dry when the company goes bankrupt? I don't think so.

Tesla is here today. As is its charging network. The company is selling as many units as it can produce. Unlike Detroit, Tesla is selling to Hertz AT FULL PRICE, assuming it can even deliver the quantity.

This is where GM and Ford shine, manufacturing. This is why Tesla needs one of them. To ramp up and dominate, so the company rides into the future as the undisputed leader, not only technologically, but in sales.

Detroit, i.e. GM and Ford, have expertise in manufacturing. They just don't know much about software. Volkswagen, first mover in the electric sphere amongst legacy manufacturers, has been hobbled by software issues in its march forward:

"VW's Hopes of Catching Tesla Hinge on a $30 Billion Tech Reboot - Internal battles, technical glitches and a complex structure have hampered the German auto giant's software efforts": https://bloom.bg/3c192IE

It's harder than it looks. I.e. it may look like an electric car, but equaling Tesla's experience is nearly impossible. So far, GM has put out the Bolt, a tiny auto with battery problems, and Ford has recalled its Mustang. Unfortunately, despite American nationalism, the Japanese still make the most trouble-free cars, which is a reason for Tesla to shy away from GM and Ford, but without scale you're doomed. That's how Microsoft won, via scale, providing the operating system for IBM computers. The best does not always win, assuming the competitor is good enough. But when it comes to cars good is not good enough. No one wants car problems anymore, that's so last century, middle of last century.

So AOL merged with Time Warner. Talk about a disaster. Gerry Levin's vision was correct and the upstarts knew more than he did about the future, it's just that AOL was built on air, soon to be superseded by the World Wide Web. Electric cars are the future. That's been decided. And unlike AOL, it's already here, the vision is complete, there's not a major disruption right around the corner.

Forget Mary Barra, forget everybody in Detroit. They've missed the memo time and again. They're managers, not innovators. And the last twenty five years have proven that innovators disrupt the storied class, very slowly, derided, and then seemingly overnight. This is what Clayton Christensen said. Yeah, at first you pooh-pooh the competitor, and then it gets good enough and eats your lunch. All those people are buying Teslas despite continuing manufacturing defects. Sure, Tesla has gotten better in manufacturing, but it is still not major league.

But if Tesla's blueprints could be used in Detroit? Problem solved!

And also GM or Ford's problem solved. They risk being legacy companies that go down to zero. The digital sphere is littered with companies like this. Do you remember BlackBerry?

So, a merger would be a win-win. It would demonstrate vision. And solve each company's respective problem.

As for the self-driving "problem," don't you get it? It's not the accidents/injuries/deaths, this is how it works in software, it takes a while to get it right. But when you do.. Come on, were you computing in the eighties? Software was buggy, constantly improved, and then the companies got it right. Tesla is on the bleeding edge here. We will have self-driving cars. The company that gets there first will have a huge economic advantage. Meanwhile, GM and Ford and the rest of the auto industry are afraid of regulators, who are clueless, and inactive in the most revolutionary auto leap forward. Electric cars are a small step compared to self-driving cars. You need to be in this sphere.

But that's software. All those bells and whistles in Teslas... Those are Easter eggs demonstrating the company's ability to write software, they're so good at it that they can spend money and time adding fun features just for the hell of it, to entertain their customers.

In the future, you will be buying a computer, not a car. It will look like a car, but under the skin it will be a computer. This is bedrock, not up for discussion, this is not a far distant vision, this is now! So who is prepared for now? Certainly not GM or Ford. As for the other worldly manufacturers, there are not as obvious merger candidates, GM and Ford are the ones for Tesla.

Yes Tesla's valuation is through the roof, so GM or Ford can't purchase it. And there's no reason for Tesla to do the reverse. It should be a no-cash transaction. Then again, there are tax issues, so many issues investment bankers specialize in.

Sure, Ford just got an almost ten billion dollar win via the public debut of Rivian, but money won't buy you love and it won't buy you software stability, no, that takes effort.

This is the way to go. Otherwise GM and Ford are at major risk. As for Tesla...can it scale up in time? Doubtful. But having GM or Ford's manufacturing infrastructure...

Oh, one more thing, the Tesla brass ends up in control. Give the Detroit CEO a title, and then shortly thereafter squeeze them out with a golden parachute.

You don't win by committee in tech. It's all about a singular vision, usually from the founder/CEO. You let the old guard have power at your peril.

Every day more people are warming up to Tesla. They're on the road, purchase is seen as much less of a risk. But imagine if they were made in concert with Detroit and were everywhere?

Then you've got a done deal. Dominance. For decades.

Go for the prize.


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Shock Doctrine

https://bit.ly/3mZnaZ5
Start at 1:33:33

I can't believe I found this.

So I was driving over the hill, going through the SiriusXM channels over 300.

Used to be these were only internet stations, but if you've got a relatively new radio you can bring them in over the air in your car.

And I started with Road Trip Radio, #301, driving songs, and not all old.

And then I moved my way up to the dial to Jam On at 309 and I heard this.

Now you've got to know I've got a noisy car, but one of the best stereos extant. The best of Focal all around, an AVI subwoofer, a JL amp and an Alpine tuner. So what you're hearing right now is not equivalent to what I heard, there's no way to replicate the experience in front of your computer, or on earbuds, but in my car...

I'm done with politics, at least for the last week. I give up. I'm just thankful I live in blue California. It seems we're going to go back and forth, from right to left, same as it ever was, but the parties and their beliefs are not the same as they ever were, but...this is a long explanation to tell you I haven't been listening to news in my car, but music...well, at least when I'm not listening to Howard.

And I must admit I heard something on one of the modern stations in the 300s that appealed to me earlier in the evening, but it was this STS9, Sound Tribe Sector 9, track that appealed to me.

Used to be Jam On was further down the dial, but now that station is called "Phish Radio," and people bitched when this happened, but maybe having two stations is better, especially when you can pull in both in your car.

Now the jam band scene... It peaked sometime in the nineties, but it still sustains, it even has its own festival, Rothbury, never mind so many act-based festivals around the country. And jam band music is the opposite of hit music, it's all about the live performance as opposed to the recording, a perfect fit for today's experiential world. But, the media hasn't caught up with the new world yet, it believes it's about the limited Spotify Top 50 when nothing could be further from the truth, there are more genres doing better than ever before, but it is hard to climb the ladder and become ubiquitous and rich, so you'd better really like being a musician, because the money is not spectacular, then again if you read the reports on Astroworld you learned that music was just a feature, an element of Travis Scott's empire. He's built a business, which is the goal of so many Millennials and Gen-Z'ers, but for those of us who remember the old days, primarily before MTV created a monoculture, it's all about the music and only the music.

Music is like pornography, you know it when you hear it. If you don't like it, that's fine, nobody likes everything, and now more than ever criticism means little, you can bitch but it falls on deaf ears, everybody's having too much fun listening to the music of their desires.

So, once upon a time there was nothing more than the music, maybe some lights. And most of the venues had seats, you were there to listen, not to hang. You were in your own private reverie, merging with the performer(s) and their sound. When done right, it was a transcendent experience, you had no photographs, just a brain imprint and that was enough, you can still recite the details of great concerts the way golfers can replay every hole.

But in today's multifarious world, it's hard to find new music, playlists have not solved this problem, they've only confused it, never mind being imperfect. You want something new, but not finding an entrance point you give up and play the oldies, or just watch streaming television, but when you encounter something new you dig you're elated.

Not that "Shock Doctrine" is new, the original studio version was cut in the aughts. But it's just a blueprint for what's come after.

Now looking at the SiriusXM readout I saw that this version of "Shock Doctrine" was performed live on the 9th of October, of 2021! Needless to say, it's not on Spotify, probably never will be. And it wasn't easily searchable on YouTube, but going through a million sites I found it. Which kind of amazed me.

Now the truth is it was the groove of this live performance of "Shock Doctrine" that got me. Not only did I feel comfortable, I melded with the sound, I was happy. This was not exterior, but interior. It pierced my body right down to my soul. I arrived at my destination yet I could not turn it off, I didn't want the experience to end.

And then I started thinking about the experience, being at the gig, having the sound wash over me. And it's only about the sound, not about the recognition of the hit, and every night the set list is different, the set is not set in amber.

So tune in at about 1:34:25 to hear what hooked me. The descending notes. Over and over again. Hypnotic.

Now this is not the only sound I like. I like acoustic singer/songwriter as well as metal. But this electric/synthetic sound is one that, when done right, resonates with me.

Now finding the concert online, I let the show play on beyond "Shock Doctrine," and it was just as enticing, I became unmoored, on a journey. And sure, the beat is important, but it does not dominate, there are elements of melody, despite not being a hokey pop confection.

Hell, listening to STS9's "Shock Doctrine" just makes me FEEL GOOD!

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Found

Trailer: https://bit.ly/3EZMSTp

If you want to detach from cyberspace and dive into real life...

Streaming television has been a boon for documentaries. Actually, credit Sheila Nevins at HBO, she nurtured the trend and now Netflix and other outlets have maxed it out.

Used to be you had to go to the theatre to see documentaries. Of course there were some on PBS, but their number was de minimis, as was the breadth of their subjects. Used to be a special treat. You read about a doc and you went to see it and then you were part of the discussion, as it wove its way through the public. The best example? "Capturing the Friedmans." I remember leaving the theatre with more questions than answers, needing to discuss it, thinking about it for days. And then there was "Sherman's March," which I loved, and is recognized as one of the greats, but most people still haven't seen it. Then again, you've got to appreciate the journey of a young man unsure about love searching for direction and his personal truth. And that's what appeals to me most. The interior. What are people thinking. I must say, when I scan the landscape I don't find many people I can identify with, I'm always looking to make connection.

Not that I have any children, never mind ones adopted from China.

That's the story of "Found." Three Chinese children, cousins, adopted at birth, in search of their story.

The three are so normal. Not that they don't experience racism. But they always wonder...where do they come from? When the doctor asks about familial diseases there's only a question mark, but now there's DNA testing.

I haven't done it. I'm unafraid of finding half-siblings, my father wasn't that kind of guy. And my older sister looks like my father and my younger sister and I look just like my mother so there's no doubt about our biological lineage. It's just that...I don't really want to make contact with any found relatives. Does that make me a bad person? Maybe it's growing up in a female dominated extended family, being the only boy. All grown up I can now see I could have said no, but I never did. I remember spending Thanksgiving with my mother's brother's family in Stamford on a rainy day, wearing an itchy turtleneck, staring out the window. Who was I gonna talk to? Then again, in my family, you hewed the line. Not that it was narrowly rigid, but when my parents laid down restrictions, insisted on behaviors, you obeyed or paid the price, which started out as the hand and then evolved to the belt and then the hairbrush.

So, you've got three Chinese girls in different situations. One, raised as Jewish going to a Jewish school. Another the daughter of a single parent. Another the daughter of divorced parents. In Seattle/Phoenix, Oklahoma and Nashville. And on one level all teenagers are the same, on another every family is different. So you've got these girls deposited in life situations they had no part in choosing and that's the world they live in. Strange.

Not that they're all not happy with their families. Then again, what else do they know?

So, they go in search of their roots.

They employ Liu Hao in Beijing to excavate their story.

Hao is the star of the film. As one teen immediately says upon seeing her, she is beautiful. But she's dedicated to being a genealogist. In America, if you're beautiful, you're supposed to be an actress, or an influencer. But Liu is college educated and loves her job, doing her best to make connections.

Liu spreads the word, seeding pictures into the landscape, and then waits to see what comes back. She gets responses from families that gave up their girls under the one child per family law. And when she goes to visit them, the interest and then pain they express...whew! Can you imagine giving up your baby at birth? Who then lives in an orphanage in some cases over a year waiting for adoption?

Yes, Liu also researches where the babies were left and what orphanages they were in, and even the "aunties" that took care of them.

So on one hand you've got the DNA search.

On another the contradiction between the girls' modern lives in the U.S. and their parents' less than modern ones in China, and...

There are so many differences. One of the Chinese women predicts that all the adopted girls will have long hair, which they do, that's the American way. But not in China, most of the women have short-cropped hair.

And in the U.S. today China has been demonized. Yet so many of the products we use, like our computers, are manufactured there. To see the footage of cities and rural areas is utterly fascinating. These are people, just like you and me, speaking a different language, having a different life, but at the core the same. Makes me want to go. Then again, I want to go everywhere and meet everyone.

So the girls venture to China...

This is not a Netflix extravaganza, this is a movie, just a tad longer than an hour and a half. And "Found" is not sensationalistic, like "Tiger King." No, "Found" is about regular life. In reality, the three Chinese girls just want to be happy Americans. But I resonated with Liu Hao the most. How much can she be making being a genealogist, not much, but she loves it! If you're educated today in America, you're expected to pursue the money. Wasn't like that when I went to college, my parents didn't care what I studied as long as I passed. College was about broadening your horizons, it was not a finishing school preparing you for the working world.

But today if you don't go for the bucks you can quickly fall behind, and you don't want to live in America without bucks, you want that profession, otherwise... It's the lower, uneducated classes who are taking risks, making music, going on reality television shows...sure, some wealthy, educated people participate too, but it's a lark, not everything if it doesn't work out, and it almost never does, they get back on track while those of the lower classes fall back into...unfulfilling, low-paid jobs and maybe drink and do drugs to numb the pain.

The longer you live, the more you realize so much of what you've been told is b.s. Like achievement, moving up the ladder. At the end of the day there is no summation, life is not a test, you don't get a grade, in truth you grade yourself, and the sooner you wake up to this the happier you will be.

Liu Hao loves talking to the people. Getting their stories. Those who abandoned their children.

That's what I love best, getting people's stories.

And there are plenty of stories in "Found."

I really dug it.


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Fantasy Band-Drummer-This Week On SiriusXM

Who would you pick to be the drummer of the fantasy band?

This is not necessarily the best drummer, but the best drummer for a BAND!

Tune in today, Novemver 9th, to Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.

Phone #: 844-6-VOLUME, 844-686-5863 

Twitter: @lefsetz or @siriusxmvolume/#lefsetzlive

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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Re-Astroworld

Thank you for your comments.  As a 55 year old metalhead who has attended hundreds and hundreds of GA shows with thousands of kids, mosh pits, and often violent behavior I know this kind of tragedy can be avoided. I spent many years on the road with Slayer, who has historically had some of the most aggressive and violent crowds out there. There are many ways to limit this kind of problem. One example are barricades (think breakwaters off-shore) that break up the density of the crowd (running both parallel and perpendicular to the stage) always helped. The trick is the people in charge have to take the possibility of such a problem seriously and be proactive. Slayer had a specific person on the road who was trained in doing this and would have a conversation with the entire venue security staff before every show.  I think often at non-metal shows this kind of preparation does not happen. 

Thanks

Marc Paschke

_________________________________

at GA shows in the UK and Europe, in arenas, there are often barriers across the floor so that only a maximum number of people are allowed into each section.  No price difference, first come first served.  Prevents overcrowding in any one section.

And, yes, the labor shortage is one of the biggest problems, in so many industries.  Tour after tour, concert after concert, I see people desperate for more local workers.

Hadn't seen an issue with gate-crashers in years; that does seem like something that should be under control.

Toby Mamis

_________________________________

It's not just festivals. 

We saw Phish at the Gorge this summer. First night, a security crew walked off (we were later told) closing down a venue exit gate after the show. While this was a minor inconvenience to a few thousand people, in 25 years of concerts I had never seen that happen, and it smelled like a much larger, lurking staffing issue. 

James Coburn
Rose Ganache

_________________________________

The video you linked to only shows a portion of the mayhem at the gates. Start watching at 1:42 and you'll people literally being trampled.  

https://youtu.be/eKzcNZ7m43k

Ty Velde

_________________________________

I worked the Travis Scott concert in Detroit before Covid. 
I am in my 60's and remember looking down on the floor with the mass of young people and being very concerned.  They moved as one swaying forward, back, side to side.
At the time I thought this is so dangerous. Then I thought, I must be getting old because I probably would have been down there as a teen.

But I would say the people in charge of safety must have felt the same way and every concert like this they breathed a sigh of relief nothing bad happened.  
At the Twenty One Pilots it was the same. They started lining up early for early entry. It was cold so they all had heavy jackets on. Then they rushed the stage to get as close as they could. Then spent a couple hours there waiting for the warm up act to finish to see Twenty One Pilots. Trying to hang on to a bunch of jackets and getting hotter and hotter. 
These are young people who have not ate or drank much in their quest to not miss out. 
I was working the service desk that night next to the medic office and quite a few from up front ended up there. Some had fainted, some just  exhausted and could not get out of the pack. They would send in medical to get the out and bring them up.  

They know this is happening and has been a disaster waiting to happen for years.  

Lily Morozow

_________________________________

Safe standing needs to be a thing yesterday. Look into them for soccer stadia. Put 4 barricades across the crowd, have a rough capacity for each section, and let people through until it's full. Crazy to me that this isn't already in place. Sad to hear about this but these kinds of things can and should be prevented in the future.

Thanks,
Adam Sliger

_________________________________

After Roskilde, "D" barriers were made mandatory at Australian festivals that had no seating (ie had mosh pits). And we have waaay less attendees than the staggering ticket numbers sold in the US. Is this not a regulation over there? I guess we prefer to kill the vibe rather than kill our concert goers…

Megan Butler

_________________________________

Mott the Hoople Kings College 5/3/1974, opening act Queen.  There was a scary crush of people before doors were opened.  I thought I'd be crushed, there were injuries.  Inside, glass bottles being thrown onto the stage until the band had to threaten to walk off.  I remember venues requiring assigned seating ever since.

Susan Rad Dorsey

_________________________________

Back when my Dad was in the concert promotion business, he refused to do festival seating; he just didn't think it was safe for the fans. Thousands of shows and no stampedes. He was proven right in 1979 and again several times since. 

Michael Weintraub

_________________________________

Ten years ago after the Indianapolis roof collapse, production managers, touring professional and production vendors started the Event Safety Alliance, to enacted guidelines and safety standards for all aspects of the concert touring industry.

There is a lot of great stuff on this web site.

Take care,

Kent Black

https://www.eventsafetyalliance.org/

_________________________________

Hi Bob,


I just read your post regarding the deaths and injuries at Astroworld. 

I want to bring your attention to the work of the Event Safety Alliance, ESTA and the TSP. 

Please take some time to read ANSI ES1.9. 

ANSI ES1.9 - 2020 Event Safety - Crowd Management

https://tsp.esta.org/tsp/documents/published_docs.php

I hope you can share this with your readers. 

https://tsp.esta.org/tsp/index.html

https://esta.org/

The Event Safety Alliance® (ESA) is a 501(c)(6) non-profit organization dedicated to promoting "Life Safety First" throughout all phases of event production and execution. We strive to eliminate the knowledge barrier that often contributes to unsafe conditions and behaviors through the promotion and teaching of good practices and the development of training and planning resources.

Best,
Boxer

Jahn 'Boxer' Hardison

Treasurer, Event Safety Alliance 
https://www.eventsafetyalliance.org/


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James Austin Johnson

We're starved for new talent.

I know, that sounds ridiculous, with more talent available all the time, we're overloaded. Yet as a result of the tyranny of choice, we all turn to quality, which there is very little of. And what we're really looking for is quality that transcends the niches, something everybody can cotton to and enjoy.

Like James Austin Johnson playing Donald Trump on SNL tonight.

I feel for SNL. If you wiped out the past four decades, the show might have a chance, but it pales in comparison to history. People don't want the latest work of classic rock bands, why should they want a skit show with the same format it has always had. In the past, when network television still ruled, while pay cable was making its bones, if anything was successful you got an imitation, hopefully with a twist. Which is how we got "In Living Color," a Fox show racier than SNL and better, who knew the Wayans brothers had this much talent? I mean I'd seen some of Keenan Ivory Wayans's work, but I had no exposure to his brother Damon, the breakout star of "In Living Color." Actually, I'd seen him in "Beverly Hills Cop" and "Roxanne" but I only knew his face, when set free he was amazing, I mean Homey D. Clown? And the Head Detective? You see you have to match the right performer with the right material in the right place for them to break through, now more than ever.

As for networks competing with each other...that's so last century. Now networks are competing not only with other networks, but cable, streaming, YouTube, videogames, outlets are just trying to get a slice of the audience. It isn't a matter of beating your competitor, it's a matter of trying to compete with EVERY competitor. And the first breakout star was HBO, with its run to quality. HBO made shows no network would, that were closer to truth, to reality, than any network show. As a result, HBO burgeoned. Thursday night might have been NBC, but Sunday night was HBO. And if you're still watching in real time, you're over the hill, today everything is on demand, you watch what you want to when you want to.

Which is why awards shows and SNL are so challenged. Why blow all that time when you know when the show is over you can watch the clips that appeal to you, the internet will tell you what's worth it, assuming you care.

But the problem with SNL is not so much its old format, cassette in an era of streaming, but the lack of uniformity in the culture, the lack of touchstones. You can't do inside references if people don't know the most obvious cultural elements that you're digging into deeply. So today SNL must play very broad, and still there's a lot most people don't know about and don't care about. I mean I don't ever remember seeing Judge Jeannine Pirro. Why should I? She's on Fox and I'm a Democrat! I mean I know the name, but I couldn't pick her out of a lineup. So when Cecily Strong, who I love, plays Ms. Pirro, all I see is exaggerated acting. It doesn't resonate, I do not laugh.

As for Pete Davidson as Aaron Rodgers... Tonight a millennial who actually follows football told me they were hazy on the Rogers details, whereas I've been following the story closely. Then again, this guy can run circles around me when it comes to Esports.

As for Youngkin... I've never ever seen him on TV. I don't live in Virginia and I rarely watch television news. I'm hoovering up the news, but in print, online, not on TV, where you get too much opinion and not enough facts. And that woman talking about the Toni Morrison book... I know the controversy, but was she playing the actual mother of the AP student who lost his marbles over "Beloved"? I mean I know the story, but not the personalities. Whereas in the sixties I'd know everybody, because there was so much less in the food chain and we all ate from the same trough.

So then they throw it to the only man we all know, the only person with universal mindshare, Donald Trump.

My first reaction is...is Alec Baldwin gonna come out of hiding to play the role? That can't happen, right? Too much levity too soon after a tragic situation. So, the camera goes to a guy...

Who looks almost nothing like Trump.

That's how you cast today, you find someone who looks the part, it's more important than acting. I mean couldn't they find a better actor to play young Tony Soprano than James Gandolfini's son? Of course!

I mean this guy had the hair, but his face was nothing like the Donald's.

And then he started to talk.

It took a second to register, this guy sounded just like Trump. HE WAS TRUMP! This was the SNL of old, the seventies SNL, in which the performances were uncanny, where you laughed from the inside out. On today's SNL everything is overbroad, whereas the best performers can be small.

And they let him go on. Or should I say this new Trump kept asking for more time and...the shtick of connecting to Virginia and Youngkin was funny, but it was that little reference in the middle that sealed the deal. He was talking about Mario, whose name was up on screen, and then, almost sotto voce, as a throwaway, he mentioned LUIGI!

Now this is funny stuff. Subtle stuff. This was a laugh buried deep in the routine, only there for those paying attention. But the truth is Mario and Luigi have been around for decades, they've got more name recognition than Drake! And who doesn't love Mario and Luigi, the stars of Nintendo?

And this guy playing Trump never loses it, he stays in character, he doesn't laugh at himself, he just keeps playing the role. And there are further asides, further minor laughs, and I'm saying to myself this guy is better than Alec Baldwin ever was. This guy WAS Trump, Alec Baldwin is Alec Baldwin, doing a broad, unbelievable characterization.

Now I had no idea who this guy was, I immediately went to my phone.

Turns out I was not the only person who got the message, there were numerous stories about James Austin Johnson and how he killed it as Trump on tonight's SNL.

That's the performer's name. Turns out he's famous for doing Trump, and now he's graduated to SNL.

Are you getting this? It's not like Johnson's performances weren't good enough on YouTube, he just needed to be plucked out of relative obscurity and put on TV. The idea of becoming an overnight star is passé. You hone your craft independently utilizing the free tools of the internet and you hang in there, for years, and wait for your lucky break, further recognition, which rarely happens anyway.

And I'm telling you about Mr. Johnson's performance, but the truth is the reach of SNL is miniscule. Oh, it's larger than so many other productions, but compared to its strength in the pre-internet world, IT'S DE MINIMIS!

But at least I saw James. And since it is the internet era, I went down the rabbit hole online to excavate his bio and performances, that's one thing we couldn't do in the days of yore.

So I don't know what the future holds for Johnson, but I'm watching him, walking the tightrope, continuing to be excellent, for minutes, and I'm marveling at the performance, I immediately tell myself that I must tell my audience. Because I haven't seen anything this good for a while, certainly not on SNL.

So check it out.

More of this please.

You can watch all of the opening, but to just catch James Austin Johnson start around four minutes in: https://bit.ly/3qjZMrv


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