Tommy James cut "Hanky Panky" when he was just a teenager, and then he signed with Morris Levy's Roulette Records and ended up with tons of hits, but very little money. Listen to the story of an artist who pushed the limits of the hit single idiom (remember the tremolo effect in "Crimson and Clover"?) and toured with all the stars of the sixties as well as Hubert Humphrey!
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tommy-james/id1316200737?i=1000543045573
https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast
https://open.spotify.com/episode/57ja6ZlM5GcCJoBEkhQ0cX?si=7Ps2MbGmTwy-eRkfrbCIEA
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast
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Thursday, 25 November 2021
Wednesday, 24 November 2021
Mailbag
Re: Morgan Wallen
I had never heard of Morgan Wallen until he appeared on Saturday Night Live in December 2020. Mr. Wallen had been cancelled from a previously scheduled appearance on SNL in October 2020 for not following the SNL guidelines regarding COVID19. SNL let him appear in December. We watched his performance and I thought, "What an idiot."
Scroll forward a couple of months and Mr. Wallen is caught on video using the "N word". Once again, I thought, "What an idiot."
The media took immediate response to Mr. Wallen's language. His music was dropped from most country radio stations and streaming services. His video's were pulled from most video outlets, notably CMT. His booking agency dropped him as an artist. His record label "suspended" his contract. (basically this means his recording contract clock is stopped)
I don't have a dog in this fight. I am not involved in Mr. Wallen's career in any way, shape, form or fashion. I was not even a fan of his music…..until all of this crap happened.
I went and started listening to his catalogue. Then a cousin of mine pitched me on a specific song of Mr. Wallen's.
Clearly this guy can sing a country song. That said, country singers are everywhere. Mr. Wallen can and has actually written some of his hit material. THAT separates him from the pack. He seems to be the real deal.
I watched Mr. Wallen's apology video. I don't know who is managing him or dealing with this crisis management but IMHO they could have done a much better job than what they released. Mr. Wallen talks about the use of the offensive word being "in hour 72 of a 72 hour bender" and further states that "they had every right to step on my neck" when referring to the members of the black community that reached out to him after the incident. Have Mr. Wallen and his managers not heard of George Floyd? To say it was a poor choice of words is a gross understatement.
I don't think Mr. Wallen is a racist. Mr. Wallen's problem isn't race……it is alcohol.
I think Morgan Wallen is calling out for help.
There is nothing smarter than a 20 something musician with a $3,000,000 check in his pocket from ticket and merch sales, streaming and publishing income. They are geniuses. If you were as smart as them, those dollars would be in your pocket, not theirs.
They think they are bullet proof. They are not. The laws of physics, chemistry, and medicine apply to them, just like everyone else.
It is easy to see why they might think this. They go on stage every night and thousands of people scream their heads off in approval….and pay to do that.
Mr. Wallen got arrested last May for disorderly conduct. He was thrown off SNL. As a recent convert to Mr. Wallen's music, I notice that there is A LOT of reference to alcohol in his songs, even in the beautiful song about an old love lost, "7 Summers" (which he co-wrote). Now this video taken "in hour 72 of a 72 hour bender". Who goes on a 72 hour bender? An alcoholic goes on a 72 hour bender.
The music industry has a LONG history of people with alcohol problems….from Hank Williams to Amy Winehouse, chronological not alphabetical. The industry pushes artists to record and tour when they should be in rehab. An album has to be recorded to make an annual budget. A tour has to be performed to generate commissionable fees and merchandise sales. The music business pushes these artists to deliver when they should be nurturing them back to good health….mental and physical health.
We know where this is headed with Mr. Wallen. If he does not get some help, in a few months…..some point in the not too distant future, there will be a story about the death of Morgan Wallen. A car crash on a rain slick road, a head on collision with another vehicle, it is coming. Just as certain has the sun coming up in the east tomorrow morning, it is coming.
Mr. Wallen, has some fences to mend with the black community, but his bigger battle is within. Please get him some help. Don't make it Williams, Winehouse, Wallen.
Mike Bone
______________________________________
Hi Bob!
Thanks so much for mentioning us in your newsletter last week. We've been following you for years and it was a thrill to get a shoutout. We appreciate Ari and the team at Sirius for all of the support they've given us at Jam On over the years. As an independent act, we rely on outlets like them, festivals like the ones you mentioned, as well as the support of our fans that spread the word about us rather than mainstream platforms that the majors use. We build our own communities and networks online organically, and our fans build their own independent of us too. There are platforms doing great work, like Bandcamp, which has been an incredible partner for us - we have our own subscription platform there that currently has hundreds of our live recordings on it... so that's home for most of the audio in our world. We wanted to get you quality downloads of that show so that you didn't have to dig into YouTube to find the version of Shock Doctrine that you referenced. You can find both nights of the West Of The Moon shows from Napa here Friday, Oct 8 & Saturday, Oct 9.
- STS9
______________________________________
From: Eric Pirritt
Subject: STS9
I've seen STS9 upwards of 300 times live. I've seen them play no cover, $2 Jell-O shot nights. I've seen them play with Jay-Z in arenas. I've seen them play their acoustic "Axe The Cables" sets in opera houses and wineries. I've seen Snoop Dogg, Perry Farrell, Big Boi, Pretty Lights, Mos Def open for them. I've seen them play 5 hours with the sun peaking onto the Bonnaroo grounds.
I've watched STS9 sell over 1,000,000 headline tickets over the course of their career. Most recently I promoted their shows to 18,000 over two nights at Red Rocks Amphitheatre for the 26th time in July. No other band has played Atlanta's legendary Tabernacle or Denver's Fillmore Auditorium more. The list of accomplishments could go on and on.
I've also seen them cry, struggle, divorce, and battle cancer. I've seen them work 100 hour weeks between the studio to flights to vans to stage to encore back to van only to be at home on Sunday night prepping to do it all again. They are everything when it comes to the commitment of being artists for life and for all the right reasons.
Dare I say it. STS9 is the Grateful Dead of electronic "jam" bands. They inspired countless bands with a sound and approach to making music most had never heard. They built a record label which released 100's of albums and tracks by nearly 50 artists. They built their own ticketing admin to sell bundles before there were bundles. They built homes in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina with special releases and download revenue. They scored and co-produced an award-winning documentary which featured Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn (even an amazing bit with a young Tucker Carlson to balance it out). They never set out to imitate anything. If anything they went out of their way to resemble nothing before them. They just organically became a familiar machine.
Don Was personally invited members of the band up to Marin County to see Bob Weir and John Mayer kick off their first rehearsals for what is now Dead and Co. The reason was that he knew they were fans and he loved their approach to making music. That it was inspiring. Full of intention and adventure. Simple as that.
People would always ask me, "what/who do they sound like"? My reply was always honest and the same. They sound like STS9. That was the mark of something special to me. They didn't sound like anyone or anything else I had heard. While others have come and gone, many continue to carry STS9's inspiration today. Still, STS9 remain the best of them all.
One of the proudest moments of my life was when my favorite band asked me to be their manager. I will always cherish my years by their side.
As we say in STS9 world, "Just Thanks"
-ep
Eric Pirritt
President | Live Nation Rockies | 2008 - Current
STS9 Manager | 2004-2016
STS9 Fan | 1998-2021
P.S - I've NEVER heard them sing.
______________________________________
From: Ari Fink
Subject: Re: Shock Doctrine
Yes Yes Bob!! That track was hand-selected and sent to us by STS9 bassist Alana Rocklin, who plays with a pocket the size of the Grand Canyon. Their recent live mixes are massive. So glad they are knockin' heavy on your car stereo. Jam On!! ????????
Ari Fink
Director, Music Programming
SiriusXM/Pandora
______________________________________
From: Gerry Beckley
our whole world of labels, spins, units sold... platinum records... triple platinum... will be viewed from afar like the catskills or vaudeville...just a small memory of the entertainment business a time long ago.
hope you're well,
g
______________________________________
From: Richard Gottehrer
Subject: Thank You in the title
Hi Bob
This is a song we wrote and produced with The Angels. It's credibility lies not in that it was a hit, (which it wasn't), but in its use as the nightly closing theme of the legendary DJ Murray (Murray The K) Kauffman's show. It's still a classic song that I wanted to point out to you.
Hope you're keeping well
Richard
https://open.spotify.com/track/293W5tGqQJC73Q1SEBwDo7?si=8h-4t-jQRT292wcvYlYxtg
______________________________________
From: Edward Ryan
Subject: Re: Lucian's Payday
Great note, thanks. So informed as usual.
One quibble. If I read you right I think you have the Yetnikoff / Sony timeline backwards. It was first music then movies. It was in 1988 that WY convinced Larry Tisch to sell to Sony. Remember Cyndi Lauper and Akio Morita on the cover of NYT Magazine back when it mattered? That was followed by the deal for Columbia Pictures in August 1989, when he sold the Japanese on the indispensability of Guber and Peters, neglecting to explain their Warner deal. And a few hundred million later after buying Guber-Peters Company, giving up the Columbia House cash machine, and taking possession of the unusable MGM lot in Culver City, Steve Ross gave them permission to leave.
______________________________________
Subject: Re: Republicans
Bob-
So much of what is happening is a result of a loud few bellowing and belching louder than the overwhelming majority. Tonight I promoted a show in Grand Rapids, Michigan (one of those swing states always on the edge of cratering, if you watch cable news long enough), and the venue failed to properly communicate to ticket patrons that the artist required a masked audience. Their ticketing website said masks "recommended," not "required." Artist approached me with great concern. I met with head of security and said, "We require masks. Our audience is smart enough to comply. We'll refund anybody who refuses to wear one." We set out boxes of masks at the door in case they were needed. Here are the final results: out of an audience of 1,600... not ONE refund request. Everybody wore masks. And had a wonderful time. I truly believe most people are all in on getting rid of this virus. The very, very few who are NOT are unfortunately the ones who get on cable TV every night.
Brian Martin
______________________________________
From: Kent Black
Subject: A Montana town fractures under political pressure. - The Washington Post
Hey Bob,
There was also this article in the WaPo today about another part of Montana and the Covid fights they are having. The Trumpers turn EVERYTHING in to a political fight now. The old-time Friday night cruise nights and a Fourth of July parade were hijacked by these Yahoos fighting for their "freedoms" and politicized.
Well, I would like to have my freedom back to be working on concerts and shows again. I have done one show this year (I'm a production manager and I normally have a half-dozen shows in front of me). Thanks Delta idiots, you just sent us back another six months. It's going to be a long, cold hard winter again.
And all these police and fire-fight unions, medical workers, "my freedom knuckle-heads", are going to court to try to stop from getting vaccinated. Yeah, good luck, that hasn't been working out in your favor all over the country.
And I would like to point out something that not to many of these people are thinking about. Where are you going to go on your next vacation outside the USA without a VAX card? Other countries don't give a shit what the courts in the USA say or rule.
Want to go to Canada? How about Mexico? Not going to happen without a VAX card. Go on a cruise in the Caribbean and try to dis-embark in a foreign country? Right…
Hope you enjoy looking at pictures of all they great places in Europe, Australia and the Far East in the future they you will not be able to visit. I'm sure the EU will institute a vaccine passport AP on your phone and that you will have to show it before you cross a border or get on a plane. Followed by many other countries…the vise keeps getting tighter on these Anti-Vax people.
I just signed up for my booster today.
Thanks,
Kent Black
______________________________________
From: Heidi Jones
Subject: Re: New Covid
I have to admit I just roll my eyes at the vaccination or testing requirement to get into a show. The rule makers just need to put their foot down and require vaccination, on a passport that is linked through input from your doctor/vaccine provider. The paper card is a joke too…anyone can make a fake one. I won't even consider going to a concert at an inside venue this winter that doesn't require both the vaccine and the mask. I deeply miss concerts but I like my life and I like all of my loved ones in it.
Heidi
New York
______________________________________
From: Stephen Chilton
Subject: Re: The Music Industry In Ten Years
Hi Bob,
I want to take issue with "There's nowhere to play."
The rooms are there. At Nation Independent Venue Association (NIVA) we represent 3,000 independent venues, promoters, and festivals. And thanks to the Save Our Stages Act all of them will survive the pandemic. And that is in addition to all the great small clubs AEG and Live Nation have.
One of the issues for small venues is artists waiting to play and tour until they have the hit and skipping the small rooms entirely.
I fully agree that if you want to make it you need that hit. And I am a big believer in Streaming and Social Media to drive that hit.
But I am a big believer that you "don't skip steps." Used to be hard to get the opportunity to have a hit if you couldn't play live. Now it is easy. But turning that hit into a real fan base that will turn into a lifelong carer won't happen if the act can't deliver on stage.
The only way to become great onstage is to spend time on stage and not in your bedroom.
The number of buzz YouTubuers that sold out their first tour a few years ago and are now all but forgotten even by those who paid to see the first run because the show wasn't there is massive. Those Meet & Greets, I mean "Shows," may have made money at the time but didn't build a fan base. The number of TikTok stars that will sell rooms the first time and fail to deliver a quality performance will be equally massive. But a few that will make it past that and turn it into a career will be the ones that invest in their show and develop their live side in addition to the online side.
It can't be invest in your online presence OR invest in the live side. It needs to be both.
But you are right. It will always come down to hits.
Stephen Chilton
Board Vice President - NIVA - National Independent Venues Association
Psyko Steve Presents
______________________________________
From: Rich Pagano
Subject: Re: The Chappelle Kerfuffle
Hi Bob, regarding Dave Chappelle and his transgender comment in the headlines, I am compelled to write the following. ?
Our 20 year old son died on July 2nd from an accidental overdose, fentanyl as the culprit. He had been sober for near six months yet due to a compromised mental health few days, fell victim to his demon. One month before his death, he, his mom and I were eating lunch near the sober house that he was residing in. The conversation turned to the plight of the transgender perception and overall higher percentage of overdose deaths within the gay community. Our son, who was gay, felt a need to once again articulate his compassion and concern for transgender young adults entering treatment. He felt that even within the sober out-patient gay community, the recovering transgender client would sometimes not receive the same level of respect that other gay and lesbian clients would offer or experience at group meetings. This troubled our son and made him somewhat proactive as a greeter in some of the in-patient treatment and sober homes he has lived in within the last five years. He gained a reputation with new LGBTQIA clients for initiating total inclusion, friendship and community.
Our son was expressive on the topic of someone being transgender (and sometimes also minority) and how it compounds the difficulties of recovery due to the fear of being ostracized and not accepted. Some leave treatment for this reason before they have developed the tools to stay sober.
Two entities were aware and/or remembered of our son's level of empathy. Last month, the Nic Pagano LGBTQ Scholarship Fund was created by Release Recovery Sober Living in NY and Caron Treatment Centers in Pennsylvania as an entity of compassion, inclusion, community and to offer financial scholarships for recovery at Caron Treatment to those within this community that may not have access to a comprehensive in-patient program. This week our first scholarship was rewarded. We are grateful.
Bob, in the event that you post, I hope you don't mind me adding the url for those that can use the fund, know of someone that can benefit from the fund or simply want to donate.
https://www.caron.org/donate/nic-pagano
Rich Pagano
______________________________________
From: André Cholmondeley
Subject: Re: Let's Go Brandon
What can we say Bob
I love that you give us the Venn diagram of how people parse politics …..as well as music biz realities- SIMILAR
painful facts just do not go down well!!
and you're right….. in a modern world where you can just choose "other facts you like better"…… off we go
I hope people really read your point about how in the old days you often bought an album but maybe you only listened to it once, four times….
and today we have a true granular measure of how much listening is happening, per track!! No more smoke & mirrors!!
Here's something I try to explain to critics of streaming:
Let's say you buy a release , 10 tracks $10
-Listen to it once = you paid one dollar for the equivalent of one stream/play
-Play the album twice?? Now you paid $.50 per track
you see where this is going
10 plays of the album?? Rights holder(s) paid only $.10 a track
and if we keep going pretty soon it's well under a penny….. and it's only going to go DOWN with each play !!!
As you keep trying to point out….. that sale was ONCE!! One exchange of cash
But with streaming, you're paid w every play… it's only gonna go UP!
Sigh, yes it's a small number well under a penny.. but once you're getting millions of plays over years and years and years….
…. why do we bother explaining
but the problem is if your music sucks or is derivative you're just not gonna get people to listen —- that's what is really freaking people out, it's no longer 1989
music is made in every corner of the globe and can be made faster and cheaper and often with very very high-quality. Countless Younger artists are happy with the system and it's reaping them great benefits …and selling out their shows and their merchandise
they understand how to use TikTok YouTube and Spotify as promotion but also as revenue
the old schooler response is always " but it's all garbage !"
the problem is no it's not… and besides quality is subjective …. the fact is someone is streaming someone else's music and not yours. Which is revenue for them if they understand the new pathways
All the best
André
Celebrating David Bowie, YES
@guitartour
______________________________________
From: Tom Johnston
Subject: Re: Amen Old Friend
Thanks Bob
Trying to resonate these days is like driving on the 405 with your window down and the radio blasting louder than the next car. Good luck, the traffic is intense out there. But you keep trying because it's what you do and it matters. You still have something to say.
______________________________________
From: Kathy Valentine
Subject: Re: LL Cool J At The R&RHOF
I'm so glad you wrote about this. I can tell you that being there, when LLCJ came out with Go Cut Creator GO it blew the rooftop off the place, and was such a perfect kickoff to his set at the induction show. It ought to put to rest all the whiners saying there's no room for hip hop and rap in the rock hall. Live band! Johnny B Goode guitar! rock around the clock, rap, all deliciously combined in tribute to a DJ icon—it's genius and its from 1987 and not even one of the bigger hits. But it was a statement and set the pace for the journey LL Cool J transported the entire arena on.
I'm a boomer baby raised on classic rock, blues, RnB, top 40, and came of age to the Ramones and punk rock. As an adult, I discover music, bands, genres—whatever—when I get around to it. I spent the 90s enthralled by jazz. Partly due to having a teenage daughter for the past decade, and partly due to not finding much interesting going on in rock music, I've spent a lot of time catching up to 40 years of hiphop.
This is where the life force of rock and roll has resuscitated in terms of creativity, vitality, swagger, and energy—not to mention social and cultural relevance.
I've got nothing against the bands that people are so upset about not being included on RRHOF nominations and ballots, but if you take away the number of hits or the longevity, or the units sold and just look at influence and blending and creating something new from the sources—the same way Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Elvis, Bo Diddley, Jerry Lee Lewis etc etc etc did—then objectively speaking Jay Z sand LL Cool J are just as deserving-- if not more--than the majorly successful copy/paste versions of rock bands and singers who are still waiting. I stopped looking at comments and responses to anything RH 2021 because of all the whatabout whatabout tiresome opinions.
K
PS I did not write fishing for mentions or praise about my own induction!! I'm a very lucky gal and always hyperaware of that, but that was one of the best nights of my life!
I had never heard of Morgan Wallen until he appeared on Saturday Night Live in December 2020. Mr. Wallen had been cancelled from a previously scheduled appearance on SNL in October 2020 for not following the SNL guidelines regarding COVID19. SNL let him appear in December. We watched his performance and I thought, "What an idiot."
Scroll forward a couple of months and Mr. Wallen is caught on video using the "N word". Once again, I thought, "What an idiot."
The media took immediate response to Mr. Wallen's language. His music was dropped from most country radio stations and streaming services. His video's were pulled from most video outlets, notably CMT. His booking agency dropped him as an artist. His record label "suspended" his contract. (basically this means his recording contract clock is stopped)
I don't have a dog in this fight. I am not involved in Mr. Wallen's career in any way, shape, form or fashion. I was not even a fan of his music…..until all of this crap happened.
I went and started listening to his catalogue. Then a cousin of mine pitched me on a specific song of Mr. Wallen's.
Clearly this guy can sing a country song. That said, country singers are everywhere. Mr. Wallen can and has actually written some of his hit material. THAT separates him from the pack. He seems to be the real deal.
I watched Mr. Wallen's apology video. I don't know who is managing him or dealing with this crisis management but IMHO they could have done a much better job than what they released. Mr. Wallen talks about the use of the offensive word being "in hour 72 of a 72 hour bender" and further states that "they had every right to step on my neck" when referring to the members of the black community that reached out to him after the incident. Have Mr. Wallen and his managers not heard of George Floyd? To say it was a poor choice of words is a gross understatement.
I don't think Mr. Wallen is a racist. Mr. Wallen's problem isn't race……it is alcohol.
I think Morgan Wallen is calling out for help.
There is nothing smarter than a 20 something musician with a $3,000,000 check in his pocket from ticket and merch sales, streaming and publishing income. They are geniuses. If you were as smart as them, those dollars would be in your pocket, not theirs.
They think they are bullet proof. They are not. The laws of physics, chemistry, and medicine apply to them, just like everyone else.
It is easy to see why they might think this. They go on stage every night and thousands of people scream their heads off in approval….and pay to do that.
Mr. Wallen got arrested last May for disorderly conduct. He was thrown off SNL. As a recent convert to Mr. Wallen's music, I notice that there is A LOT of reference to alcohol in his songs, even in the beautiful song about an old love lost, "7 Summers" (which he co-wrote). Now this video taken "in hour 72 of a 72 hour bender". Who goes on a 72 hour bender? An alcoholic goes on a 72 hour bender.
The music industry has a LONG history of people with alcohol problems….from Hank Williams to Amy Winehouse, chronological not alphabetical. The industry pushes artists to record and tour when they should be in rehab. An album has to be recorded to make an annual budget. A tour has to be performed to generate commissionable fees and merchandise sales. The music business pushes these artists to deliver when they should be nurturing them back to good health….mental and physical health.
We know where this is headed with Mr. Wallen. If he does not get some help, in a few months…..some point in the not too distant future, there will be a story about the death of Morgan Wallen. A car crash on a rain slick road, a head on collision with another vehicle, it is coming. Just as certain has the sun coming up in the east tomorrow morning, it is coming.
Mr. Wallen, has some fences to mend with the black community, but his bigger battle is within. Please get him some help. Don't make it Williams, Winehouse, Wallen.
Mike Bone
______________________________________
Hi Bob!
Thanks so much for mentioning us in your newsletter last week. We've been following you for years and it was a thrill to get a shoutout. We appreciate Ari and the team at Sirius for all of the support they've given us at Jam On over the years. As an independent act, we rely on outlets like them, festivals like the ones you mentioned, as well as the support of our fans that spread the word about us rather than mainstream platforms that the majors use. We build our own communities and networks online organically, and our fans build their own independent of us too. There are platforms doing great work, like Bandcamp, which has been an incredible partner for us - we have our own subscription platform there that currently has hundreds of our live recordings on it... so that's home for most of the audio in our world. We wanted to get you quality downloads of that show so that you didn't have to dig into YouTube to find the version of Shock Doctrine that you referenced. You can find both nights of the West Of The Moon shows from Napa here Friday, Oct 8 & Saturday, Oct 9.
- STS9
______________________________________
From: Eric Pirritt
Subject: STS9
I've seen STS9 upwards of 300 times live. I've seen them play no cover, $2 Jell-O shot nights. I've seen them play with Jay-Z in arenas. I've seen them play their acoustic "Axe The Cables" sets in opera houses and wineries. I've seen Snoop Dogg, Perry Farrell, Big Boi, Pretty Lights, Mos Def open for them. I've seen them play 5 hours with the sun peaking onto the Bonnaroo grounds.
I've watched STS9 sell over 1,000,000 headline tickets over the course of their career. Most recently I promoted their shows to 18,000 over two nights at Red Rocks Amphitheatre for the 26th time in July. No other band has played Atlanta's legendary Tabernacle or Denver's Fillmore Auditorium more. The list of accomplishments could go on and on.
I've also seen them cry, struggle, divorce, and battle cancer. I've seen them work 100 hour weeks between the studio to flights to vans to stage to encore back to van only to be at home on Sunday night prepping to do it all again. They are everything when it comes to the commitment of being artists for life and for all the right reasons.
Dare I say it. STS9 is the Grateful Dead of electronic "jam" bands. They inspired countless bands with a sound and approach to making music most had never heard. They built a record label which released 100's of albums and tracks by nearly 50 artists. They built their own ticketing admin to sell bundles before there were bundles. They built homes in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina with special releases and download revenue. They scored and co-produced an award-winning documentary which featured Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn (even an amazing bit with a young Tucker Carlson to balance it out). They never set out to imitate anything. If anything they went out of their way to resemble nothing before them. They just organically became a familiar machine.
Don Was personally invited members of the band up to Marin County to see Bob Weir and John Mayer kick off their first rehearsals for what is now Dead and Co. The reason was that he knew they were fans and he loved their approach to making music. That it was inspiring. Full of intention and adventure. Simple as that.
People would always ask me, "what/who do they sound like"? My reply was always honest and the same. They sound like STS9. That was the mark of something special to me. They didn't sound like anyone or anything else I had heard. While others have come and gone, many continue to carry STS9's inspiration today. Still, STS9 remain the best of them all.
One of the proudest moments of my life was when my favorite band asked me to be their manager. I will always cherish my years by their side.
As we say in STS9 world, "Just Thanks"
-ep
Eric Pirritt
President | Live Nation Rockies | 2008 - Current
STS9 Manager | 2004-2016
STS9 Fan | 1998-2021
P.S - I've NEVER heard them sing.
______________________________________
From: Ari Fink
Subject: Re: Shock Doctrine
Yes Yes Bob!! That track was hand-selected and sent to us by STS9 bassist Alana Rocklin, who plays with a pocket the size of the Grand Canyon. Their recent live mixes are massive. So glad they are knockin' heavy on your car stereo. Jam On!! ????????
Ari Fink
Director, Music Programming
SiriusXM/Pandora
______________________________________
From: Gerry Beckley
our whole world of labels, spins, units sold... platinum records... triple platinum... will be viewed from afar like the catskills or vaudeville...just a small memory of the entertainment business a time long ago.
hope you're well,
g
______________________________________
From: Richard Gottehrer
Subject: Thank You in the title
Hi Bob
This is a song we wrote and produced with The Angels. It's credibility lies not in that it was a hit, (which it wasn't), but in its use as the nightly closing theme of the legendary DJ Murray (Murray The K) Kauffman's show. It's still a classic song that I wanted to point out to you.
Hope you're keeping well
Richard
https://open.spotify.com/track/293W5tGqQJC73Q1SEBwDo7?si=8h-4t-jQRT292wcvYlYxtg
______________________________________
From: Edward Ryan
Subject: Re: Lucian's Payday
Great note, thanks. So informed as usual.
One quibble. If I read you right I think you have the Yetnikoff / Sony timeline backwards. It was first music then movies. It was in 1988 that WY convinced Larry Tisch to sell to Sony. Remember Cyndi Lauper and Akio Morita on the cover of NYT Magazine back when it mattered? That was followed by the deal for Columbia Pictures in August 1989, when he sold the Japanese on the indispensability of Guber and Peters, neglecting to explain their Warner deal. And a few hundred million later after buying Guber-Peters Company, giving up the Columbia House cash machine, and taking possession of the unusable MGM lot in Culver City, Steve Ross gave them permission to leave.
______________________________________
Subject: Re: Republicans
Bob-
So much of what is happening is a result of a loud few bellowing and belching louder than the overwhelming majority. Tonight I promoted a show in Grand Rapids, Michigan (one of those swing states always on the edge of cratering, if you watch cable news long enough), and the venue failed to properly communicate to ticket patrons that the artist required a masked audience. Their ticketing website said masks "recommended," not "required." Artist approached me with great concern. I met with head of security and said, "We require masks. Our audience is smart enough to comply. We'll refund anybody who refuses to wear one." We set out boxes of masks at the door in case they were needed. Here are the final results: out of an audience of 1,600... not ONE refund request. Everybody wore masks. And had a wonderful time. I truly believe most people are all in on getting rid of this virus. The very, very few who are NOT are unfortunately the ones who get on cable TV every night.
Brian Martin
______________________________________
From: Kent Black
Subject: A Montana town fractures under political pressure. - The Washington Post
Hey Bob,
There was also this article in the WaPo today about another part of Montana and the Covid fights they are having. The Trumpers turn EVERYTHING in to a political fight now. The old-time Friday night cruise nights and a Fourth of July parade were hijacked by these Yahoos fighting for their "freedoms" and politicized.
Well, I would like to have my freedom back to be working on concerts and shows again. I have done one show this year (I'm a production manager and I normally have a half-dozen shows in front of me). Thanks Delta idiots, you just sent us back another six months. It's going to be a long, cold hard winter again.
And all these police and fire-fight unions, medical workers, "my freedom knuckle-heads", are going to court to try to stop from getting vaccinated. Yeah, good luck, that hasn't been working out in your favor all over the country.
And I would like to point out something that not to many of these people are thinking about. Where are you going to go on your next vacation outside the USA without a VAX card? Other countries don't give a shit what the courts in the USA say or rule.
Want to go to Canada? How about Mexico? Not going to happen without a VAX card. Go on a cruise in the Caribbean and try to dis-embark in a foreign country? Right…
Hope you enjoy looking at pictures of all they great places in Europe, Australia and the Far East in the future they you will not be able to visit. I'm sure the EU will institute a vaccine passport AP on your phone and that you will have to show it before you cross a border or get on a plane. Followed by many other countries…the vise keeps getting tighter on these Anti-Vax people.
I just signed up for my booster today.
Thanks,
Kent Black
______________________________________
From: Heidi Jones
Subject: Re: New Covid
I have to admit I just roll my eyes at the vaccination or testing requirement to get into a show. The rule makers just need to put their foot down and require vaccination, on a passport that is linked through input from your doctor/vaccine provider. The paper card is a joke too…anyone can make a fake one. I won't even consider going to a concert at an inside venue this winter that doesn't require both the vaccine and the mask. I deeply miss concerts but I like my life and I like all of my loved ones in it.
Heidi
New York
______________________________________
From: Stephen Chilton
Subject: Re: The Music Industry In Ten Years
Hi Bob,
I want to take issue with "There's nowhere to play."
The rooms are there. At Nation Independent Venue Association (NIVA) we represent 3,000 independent venues, promoters, and festivals. And thanks to the Save Our Stages Act all of them will survive the pandemic. And that is in addition to all the great small clubs AEG and Live Nation have.
One of the issues for small venues is artists waiting to play and tour until they have the hit and skipping the small rooms entirely.
I fully agree that if you want to make it you need that hit. And I am a big believer in Streaming and Social Media to drive that hit.
But I am a big believer that you "don't skip steps." Used to be hard to get the opportunity to have a hit if you couldn't play live. Now it is easy. But turning that hit into a real fan base that will turn into a lifelong carer won't happen if the act can't deliver on stage.
The only way to become great onstage is to spend time on stage and not in your bedroom.
The number of buzz YouTubuers that sold out their first tour a few years ago and are now all but forgotten even by those who paid to see the first run because the show wasn't there is massive. Those Meet & Greets, I mean "Shows," may have made money at the time but didn't build a fan base. The number of TikTok stars that will sell rooms the first time and fail to deliver a quality performance will be equally massive. But a few that will make it past that and turn it into a career will be the ones that invest in their show and develop their live side in addition to the online side.
It can't be invest in your online presence OR invest in the live side. It needs to be both.
But you are right. It will always come down to hits.
Stephen Chilton
Board Vice President - NIVA - National Independent Venues Association
Psyko Steve Presents
______________________________________
From: Rich Pagano
Subject: Re: The Chappelle Kerfuffle
Hi Bob, regarding Dave Chappelle and his transgender comment in the headlines, I am compelled to write the following. ?
Our 20 year old son died on July 2nd from an accidental overdose, fentanyl as the culprit. He had been sober for near six months yet due to a compromised mental health few days, fell victim to his demon. One month before his death, he, his mom and I were eating lunch near the sober house that he was residing in. The conversation turned to the plight of the transgender perception and overall higher percentage of overdose deaths within the gay community. Our son, who was gay, felt a need to once again articulate his compassion and concern for transgender young adults entering treatment. He felt that even within the sober out-patient gay community, the recovering transgender client would sometimes not receive the same level of respect that other gay and lesbian clients would offer or experience at group meetings. This troubled our son and made him somewhat proactive as a greeter in some of the in-patient treatment and sober homes he has lived in within the last five years. He gained a reputation with new LGBTQIA clients for initiating total inclusion, friendship and community.
Our son was expressive on the topic of someone being transgender (and sometimes also minority) and how it compounds the difficulties of recovery due to the fear of being ostracized and not accepted. Some leave treatment for this reason before they have developed the tools to stay sober.
Two entities were aware and/or remembered of our son's level of empathy. Last month, the Nic Pagano LGBTQ Scholarship Fund was created by Release Recovery Sober Living in NY and Caron Treatment Centers in Pennsylvania as an entity of compassion, inclusion, community and to offer financial scholarships for recovery at Caron Treatment to those within this community that may not have access to a comprehensive in-patient program. This week our first scholarship was rewarded. We are grateful.
Bob, in the event that you post, I hope you don't mind me adding the url for those that can use the fund, know of someone that can benefit from the fund or simply want to donate.
https://www.caron.org/donate/nic-pagano
Rich Pagano
______________________________________
From: André Cholmondeley
Subject: Re: Let's Go Brandon
What can we say Bob
I love that you give us the Venn diagram of how people parse politics …..as well as music biz realities- SIMILAR
painful facts just do not go down well!!
and you're right….. in a modern world where you can just choose "other facts you like better"…… off we go
I hope people really read your point about how in the old days you often bought an album but maybe you only listened to it once, four times….
and today we have a true granular measure of how much listening is happening, per track!! No more smoke & mirrors!!
Here's something I try to explain to critics of streaming:
Let's say you buy a release , 10 tracks $10
-Listen to it once = you paid one dollar for the equivalent of one stream/play
-Play the album twice?? Now you paid $.50 per track
you see where this is going
10 plays of the album?? Rights holder(s) paid only $.10 a track
and if we keep going pretty soon it's well under a penny….. and it's only going to go DOWN with each play !!!
As you keep trying to point out….. that sale was ONCE!! One exchange of cash
But with streaming, you're paid w every play… it's only gonna go UP!
Sigh, yes it's a small number well under a penny.. but once you're getting millions of plays over years and years and years….
…. why do we bother explaining
but the problem is if your music sucks or is derivative you're just not gonna get people to listen —- that's what is really freaking people out, it's no longer 1989
music is made in every corner of the globe and can be made faster and cheaper and often with very very high-quality. Countless Younger artists are happy with the system and it's reaping them great benefits …and selling out their shows and their merchandise
they understand how to use TikTok YouTube and Spotify as promotion but also as revenue
the old schooler response is always " but it's all garbage !"
the problem is no it's not… and besides quality is subjective …. the fact is someone is streaming someone else's music and not yours. Which is revenue for them if they understand the new pathways
All the best
André
Celebrating David Bowie, YES
@guitartour
______________________________________
From: Tom Johnston
Subject: Re: Amen Old Friend
Thanks Bob
Trying to resonate these days is like driving on the 405 with your window down and the radio blasting louder than the next car. Good luck, the traffic is intense out there. But you keep trying because it's what you do and it matters. You still have something to say.
______________________________________
From: Kathy Valentine
Subject: Re: LL Cool J At The R&RHOF
I'm so glad you wrote about this. I can tell you that being there, when LLCJ came out with Go Cut Creator GO it blew the rooftop off the place, and was such a perfect kickoff to his set at the induction show. It ought to put to rest all the whiners saying there's no room for hip hop and rap in the rock hall. Live band! Johnny B Goode guitar! rock around the clock, rap, all deliciously combined in tribute to a DJ icon—it's genius and its from 1987 and not even one of the bigger hits. But it was a statement and set the pace for the journey LL Cool J transported the entire arena on.
I'm a boomer baby raised on classic rock, blues, RnB, top 40, and came of age to the Ramones and punk rock. As an adult, I discover music, bands, genres—whatever—when I get around to it. I spent the 90s enthralled by jazz. Partly due to having a teenage daughter for the past decade, and partly due to not finding much interesting going on in rock music, I've spent a lot of time catching up to 40 years of hiphop.
This is where the life force of rock and roll has resuscitated in terms of creativity, vitality, swagger, and energy—not to mention social and cultural relevance.
I've got nothing against the bands that people are so upset about not being included on RRHOF nominations and ballots, but if you take away the number of hits or the longevity, or the units sold and just look at influence and blending and creating something new from the sources—the same way Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Elvis, Bo Diddley, Jerry Lee Lewis etc etc etc did—then objectively speaking Jay Z sand LL Cool J are just as deserving-- if not more--than the majorly successful copy/paste versions of rock bands and singers who are still waiting. I stopped looking at comments and responses to anything RH 2021 because of all the whatabout whatabout tiresome opinions.
K
PS I did not write fishing for mentions or praise about my own induction!! I'm a very lucky gal and always hyperaware of that, but that was one of the best nights of my life!
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Tuesday, 23 November 2021
Morgan Wallen
When are we gonna let this guy out of jail?
This dude has the biggest album of the year, hovering in the Top Ten all the while, without the sales tricks of those who get all the publicity, with their vinyl and multi-CD packages, and yet you can't even say his name. HUH? Furthermore, his album is GREAT! Just as listenable as Chris Stapleton's big award winning record, and far superior to those in pop country, like Luke Bryan, never mind the rest of the wankers, but everybody is too afraid to touch him. Is that the country we now live in, where people are afraid of doing what's right?
Yes, the agent booked a tour (thank god Wallen is going on the road, and he'll do boffo at the b.o.), and there's incredible blowback saying he said he wouldn't, that he was done with Wallen. CAN NO ONE CHANGE THEIR MIND? Are we really living in a zero tolerance society?
Seems like it.
So this ignorant punk uses the N-Word. He's so dumb and uninformed that he doesn't realize only Black people can utter it, like Dave Chappelle at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. But Wallen, like the rest of young America, has listened to a zillion rap songs, he's invested in the culture, because hip-hop is American culture, but since he's living in the boonies he doesn't know how to behave, what he can say or what he can't. It's not like he used the N-Word as a put-down, in fact it was as a term of endearment. That doesn't justify its use, but the penalty here far outweighs the crime.
Marilyn Manson is not censored by the Grammys, and Morgan Wallen can't even get a nomination, never mind winning the award he deserves, Album of the Year. If Harvey Mason, Jr. had any cojones, he'd have Wallen OPEN the damn Grammy telecast, demonstrating the organization is a big tent, and everybody is included. Hell, Pee-wee Herman opened the VMAs and he was caught red-handed!
If you commit a faux pas in the future, deny it. Because those who admitted the offense got the same punishment as those who did not. Harvey Weinstein is an enemy of the people, but Louis C.K? Come on, he's a COMEDIAN!
And don't be holier-than-thou, all we have to do is subpoena your Google search history. Yes, they sued for the use of pornography in Utah but then it was revealed from TV records that everybody in the Beehive State watches it and the case was dropped. Ain't that America, HYPOCRITES!
Imagine if you stole a cookie from the jar and could never have a cookie again! That is what this is like, better to deny your action. And sure, there's video in this case, but what kind of jerk films his neighbors late at night? These are the gotcha people, no different from Project Veritas. Mark Zuckerberg puts a stake in the heart of democracy and he skates. But Zuckerberg is a Harvard dropout, who is a billionaire. What are Wallen's bona fides? ONLY THAT HE CREATED A HIT DOUBLE ALBUM! And that's harder to do than to create Facebook. If you study inventions/discoveries, you know they're in the air. Darwin's theory would have been named something else, as a matter of fact they're still discussing if he deserves the credit a hundred and fifty years later!
And forget the right wing rednecks, how about the left wing elite? Which has contempt for Morgan Wallen just for the fact he sings country music. He's considered a rube. I hate to tell you, but you can grow up in the country, in the south, and still be smart. You might have an accent, but it doesn't affect your intelligence.
But I guess college students are triggered by Walden. Well, in that case America must be remade so the scores of things that trigger me are eradicated. I mean nobody should be shot, but are we now protecting feelings? All this anti-bullying crap, you never hear the bullied speaking up, because they know there's no way you can get rid of it, the only way is to stand up to your oppressors. Want to beat the bullies? Don't coddle your kid and speak to the school's administration, give him karate lessons, teach him how to fight back.
I know that's politically incorrect. I'd love it if women could wear cutoffs and halter tops in a construction zone with no hoots, no blowback, but come on, that's not the way things are. But there's no reality anymore, it's all theory. All the life lessons my parents taught me are out the window, because what...society is going to protect me, the law? Yeah right.
As for those on the right... I don't even want to get into Fox News and Tucker Carlson, but I will say most of those on the right are reasonable and the best way for the left to make progress is to embrace them, and get them to hear reality, as opposed to alternative facts. I'm not saying to pander, I'm just saying let's have some humanity, some decency. Not for all, not for those stirring the white nationalist plot, but that's not everybody.
Meanwhile, Trump breaks the law ad infinitum and not only has he escaped punishment, most of the Republican party thinks he won the election! Wallen's "crime" pales in comparison to those of Trump, but he's the one paying the price.
If you're rich and connected, you skate. If not, good luck with the public defender!
And once again, I'm not defending Wallen, I'm just saying the penalty now outstrips the crime, BY FAR! Turns out we didn't kill is career. He was only more successful, and if it wasn't in the grooves it wouldn't be so, the right couldn't make the "Let's Go Brandon" songs a hit.
But it's easier to sit on your duff and stay out of the fray.
But it's not only with Wallen, it's with all female issues. Men can't have a seat at the table. Yes, men are the offenders, but not all of them! Talk to a man, unlike Morgan Wallen he knows what he can't say, but that does not mean he believes it. Meanwhile, so much of what's on the hit parade denigrates women, HUH?
I don't know Morgan Wallen, I've got no stake in his career. There are much worse crimes than using the "N" word. But killers go free and Wallen remains in jail?
Well, maybe metaphorical jail, but if you even mention Wallen's name to a non-fan they put you down, even though they've never listened to the music. Isn't this behavior exactly what the left is decrying on the right?
You should listen to "Dangerous," it's far superior to most of the records nominated for awards today. And it's got a better chance of lasting. It's full of melody and hooks, the building blocks of music, and each song wasn't written by twenty people. Get enough people involved and no one gets the blame, do it yourself and you're a target. Imagine if Zuckerberg didn't have the infrastructure, the troops of Facebook behind him. HE'D BE OUT OF BUSINESS!
And it's not like the right is even supporting Morgan Wallen. Everybody has moved on but the fans. The music sells itself in a world where what is a hit is jammed down people's throats, talk about an accomplishment!
So one of these days eyes are going to turn to you. You're gonna screw up, everybody does. But imagine if the punishment far exceeds the crime. And no matter what you do, you can't recover, you must atone forever. Give Wallen credit, because so many other acts would have busted out by now. Just shutting up is a punishment, in a world where even wannabe celebs are communicating with their fans online 24/7.
The sixties were about fighting injustice.
Today it's all about tribes. You can't violate the mores of the tribe. You can't criticize it. That's even worse than Wallen using the "N" word. But get big enough and you can elude punishment.
Nothing is gonna happen because nobody wants to take the risk.
Musicians used to be famous for taking risks, but now if you want the truth you'd better fire up Netflix. Because musicians are mostly cartoons. I mean at least Morgan Wallen spoke his truth in his lyrics. He wasn't endlessly boasting, busy becoming a brand.
At least the CMAs allowed "Dangerous" to be nominated. It'd be like creating a list of the best films and leaving out the "Godfather" and "Citizen Kane." WAIT, they went for "Gone With the Wind" and even Abraham Lincoln!
Have we lost our minds? Is rationality out the window? Is it all tit for tat? One strike and you're out?
Don't call your friends, don't get involved in groupthink. I ask, sitting at home, alone, reading this, do you think Morgan Wallen has paid enough and the restrictions should be lifted? And if not, at least listen to "Dangerous," once. Don't drop the needle and scowl, check it out, it'll draw you in, IT'S JUST THAT GOOD!
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This dude has the biggest album of the year, hovering in the Top Ten all the while, without the sales tricks of those who get all the publicity, with their vinyl and multi-CD packages, and yet you can't even say his name. HUH? Furthermore, his album is GREAT! Just as listenable as Chris Stapleton's big award winning record, and far superior to those in pop country, like Luke Bryan, never mind the rest of the wankers, but everybody is too afraid to touch him. Is that the country we now live in, where people are afraid of doing what's right?
Yes, the agent booked a tour (thank god Wallen is going on the road, and he'll do boffo at the b.o.), and there's incredible blowback saying he said he wouldn't, that he was done with Wallen. CAN NO ONE CHANGE THEIR MIND? Are we really living in a zero tolerance society?
Seems like it.
So this ignorant punk uses the N-Word. He's so dumb and uninformed that he doesn't realize only Black people can utter it, like Dave Chappelle at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. But Wallen, like the rest of young America, has listened to a zillion rap songs, he's invested in the culture, because hip-hop is American culture, but since he's living in the boonies he doesn't know how to behave, what he can say or what he can't. It's not like he used the N-Word as a put-down, in fact it was as a term of endearment. That doesn't justify its use, but the penalty here far outweighs the crime.
Marilyn Manson is not censored by the Grammys, and Morgan Wallen can't even get a nomination, never mind winning the award he deserves, Album of the Year. If Harvey Mason, Jr. had any cojones, he'd have Wallen OPEN the damn Grammy telecast, demonstrating the organization is a big tent, and everybody is included. Hell, Pee-wee Herman opened the VMAs and he was caught red-handed!
If you commit a faux pas in the future, deny it. Because those who admitted the offense got the same punishment as those who did not. Harvey Weinstein is an enemy of the people, but Louis C.K? Come on, he's a COMEDIAN!
And don't be holier-than-thou, all we have to do is subpoena your Google search history. Yes, they sued for the use of pornography in Utah but then it was revealed from TV records that everybody in the Beehive State watches it and the case was dropped. Ain't that America, HYPOCRITES!
Imagine if you stole a cookie from the jar and could never have a cookie again! That is what this is like, better to deny your action. And sure, there's video in this case, but what kind of jerk films his neighbors late at night? These are the gotcha people, no different from Project Veritas. Mark Zuckerberg puts a stake in the heart of democracy and he skates. But Zuckerberg is a Harvard dropout, who is a billionaire. What are Wallen's bona fides? ONLY THAT HE CREATED A HIT DOUBLE ALBUM! And that's harder to do than to create Facebook. If you study inventions/discoveries, you know they're in the air. Darwin's theory would have been named something else, as a matter of fact they're still discussing if he deserves the credit a hundred and fifty years later!
And forget the right wing rednecks, how about the left wing elite? Which has contempt for Morgan Wallen just for the fact he sings country music. He's considered a rube. I hate to tell you, but you can grow up in the country, in the south, and still be smart. You might have an accent, but it doesn't affect your intelligence.
But I guess college students are triggered by Walden. Well, in that case America must be remade so the scores of things that trigger me are eradicated. I mean nobody should be shot, but are we now protecting feelings? All this anti-bullying crap, you never hear the bullied speaking up, because they know there's no way you can get rid of it, the only way is to stand up to your oppressors. Want to beat the bullies? Don't coddle your kid and speak to the school's administration, give him karate lessons, teach him how to fight back.
I know that's politically incorrect. I'd love it if women could wear cutoffs and halter tops in a construction zone with no hoots, no blowback, but come on, that's not the way things are. But there's no reality anymore, it's all theory. All the life lessons my parents taught me are out the window, because what...society is going to protect me, the law? Yeah right.
As for those on the right... I don't even want to get into Fox News and Tucker Carlson, but I will say most of those on the right are reasonable and the best way for the left to make progress is to embrace them, and get them to hear reality, as opposed to alternative facts. I'm not saying to pander, I'm just saying let's have some humanity, some decency. Not for all, not for those stirring the white nationalist plot, but that's not everybody.
Meanwhile, Trump breaks the law ad infinitum and not only has he escaped punishment, most of the Republican party thinks he won the election! Wallen's "crime" pales in comparison to those of Trump, but he's the one paying the price.
If you're rich and connected, you skate. If not, good luck with the public defender!
And once again, I'm not defending Wallen, I'm just saying the penalty now outstrips the crime, BY FAR! Turns out we didn't kill is career. He was only more successful, and if it wasn't in the grooves it wouldn't be so, the right couldn't make the "Let's Go Brandon" songs a hit.
But it's easier to sit on your duff and stay out of the fray.
But it's not only with Wallen, it's with all female issues. Men can't have a seat at the table. Yes, men are the offenders, but not all of them! Talk to a man, unlike Morgan Wallen he knows what he can't say, but that does not mean he believes it. Meanwhile, so much of what's on the hit parade denigrates women, HUH?
I don't know Morgan Wallen, I've got no stake in his career. There are much worse crimes than using the "N" word. But killers go free and Wallen remains in jail?
Well, maybe metaphorical jail, but if you even mention Wallen's name to a non-fan they put you down, even though they've never listened to the music. Isn't this behavior exactly what the left is decrying on the right?
You should listen to "Dangerous," it's far superior to most of the records nominated for awards today. And it's got a better chance of lasting. It's full of melody and hooks, the building blocks of music, and each song wasn't written by twenty people. Get enough people involved and no one gets the blame, do it yourself and you're a target. Imagine if Zuckerberg didn't have the infrastructure, the troops of Facebook behind him. HE'D BE OUT OF BUSINESS!
And it's not like the right is even supporting Morgan Wallen. Everybody has moved on but the fans. The music sells itself in a world where what is a hit is jammed down people's throats, talk about an accomplishment!
So one of these days eyes are going to turn to you. You're gonna screw up, everybody does. But imagine if the punishment far exceeds the crime. And no matter what you do, you can't recover, you must atone forever. Give Wallen credit, because so many other acts would have busted out by now. Just shutting up is a punishment, in a world where even wannabe celebs are communicating with their fans online 24/7.
The sixties were about fighting injustice.
Today it's all about tribes. You can't violate the mores of the tribe. You can't criticize it. That's even worse than Wallen using the "N" word. But get big enough and you can elude punishment.
Nothing is gonna happen because nobody wants to take the risk.
Musicians used to be famous for taking risks, but now if you want the truth you'd better fire up Netflix. Because musicians are mostly cartoons. I mean at least Morgan Wallen spoke his truth in his lyrics. He wasn't endlessly boasting, busy becoming a brand.
At least the CMAs allowed "Dangerous" to be nominated. It'd be like creating a list of the best films and leaving out the "Godfather" and "Citizen Kane." WAIT, they went for "Gone With the Wind" and even Abraham Lincoln!
Have we lost our minds? Is rationality out the window? Is it all tit for tat? One strike and you're out?
Don't call your friends, don't get involved in groupthink. I ask, sitting at home, alone, reading this, do you think Morgan Wallen has paid enough and the restrictions should be lifted? And if not, at least listen to "Dangerous," once. Don't drop the needle and scowl, check it out, it'll draw you in, IT'S JUST THAT GOOD!
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Thank You Songs Playlist
https://spoti.fi/3r5r2KK
Songs with "thank" in the title and/or lyrics (start at listed times to hear the word within thirty seconds, although it does not appear in "Thank You"):
My Thanksgiving-Don Henley - from 4:05
Thank You Led Zeppelin and Tori Amos (Tori Amos version -from :40)
You've Made Me So Very Happy-Blood, Sweat & Tears - from: 1:48
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) - Sly & The Family Stone - from: 52
I Thank You-Sam & Dave - from :11
& ZZ Top - from: :17
Bonnie Raitt: from the top
Thank You-Dido - from 2:40
Thank You For Being A Friend-Andrew Gold - from the top
Thank You Girl-Beatles - from :06
Thank God I'm A Country Boy-John Denver - from the top
Thank U Alanis Morissette - from: :50
Kind and Generous-Natalie Merchant - from 2:44
How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) - Marvin Gaye - from: :36
Suffragette City-David Bowie - from 2:24
Spending My Time-Roxette - from: :21
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) -
The Beatles - from: :44
I Love You-Climax Blues Band from: 2:40
Magic Bus-The Who - from: :42
Wonderful-The Beach Boys - from 1:48
Sweet Virginia-Rolling Stones - from 1:29
People Get Ready-Rod Stewart/Jeff Beck - from: :39
Someone Saved My Life Tonight-Elton John - from 2:29
Child's Song-Tom Rush - from 2:32
Sunny-Bobby Heeb - from: :31
When the Daylight Comes-Ian Hunter - from 2:21
Champagne Jam-Atlanta Rhythm Section - from 2:04
Farmer's Daughter-Beach Boys - from: :28
Your Smiling Face-James Taylor - from :47
Far Away Eyes-Rolling Stones - from :34
Leader of the Band-Dan Fogelberg - from 2:46
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Songs with "thank" in the title and/or lyrics (start at listed times to hear the word within thirty seconds, although it does not appear in "Thank You"):
My Thanksgiving-Don Henley - from 4:05
Thank You Led Zeppelin and Tori Amos (Tori Amos version -from :40)
You've Made Me So Very Happy-Blood, Sweat & Tears - from: 1:48
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) - Sly & The Family Stone - from: 52
I Thank You-Sam & Dave - from :11
& ZZ Top - from: :17
Bonnie Raitt: from the top
Thank You-Dido - from 2:40
Thank You For Being A Friend-Andrew Gold - from the top
Thank You Girl-Beatles - from :06
Thank God I'm A Country Boy-John Denver - from the top
Thank U Alanis Morissette - from: :50
Kind and Generous-Natalie Merchant - from 2:44
How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) - Marvin Gaye - from: :36
Suffragette City-David Bowie - from 2:24
Spending My Time-Roxette - from: :21
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) -
The Beatles - from: :44
I Love You-Climax Blues Band from: 2:40
Magic Bus-The Who - from: :42
Wonderful-The Beach Boys - from 1:48
Sweet Virginia-Rolling Stones - from 1:29
People Get Ready-Rod Stewart/Jeff Beck - from: :39
Someone Saved My Life Tonight-Elton John - from 2:29
Child's Song-Tom Rush - from 2:32
Sunny-Bobby Heeb - from: :31
When the Daylight Comes-Ian Hunter - from 2:21
Champagne Jam-Atlanta Rhythm Section - from 2:04
Farmer's Daughter-Beach Boys - from: :28
Your Smiling Face-James Taylor - from :47
Far Away Eyes-Rolling Stones - from :34
Leader of the Band-Dan Fogelberg - from 2:46
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Narcos: Mexico-Season 3
It's educational.
If you want to know what is going on with the drug war, you've got to read the Sam Quinones books. Start with "Dreamland," which delineates the beginning and growth of the opioid epidemic, from rural Kentucky to south of the border, and his new one, "The Least of Us," which is all about today's fentanyl epidemic, as well as the meth story. One of the bottom lines is Quinones believes the surge in meth use is causing a surge in schizophrenia. Actions have consequences. You may survive a Covid-19 infection, but fifty percent of the infected have ongoing symptoms, I know two people who still don't have a sense of taste and smell eighteen months on. So beware. Then again, we live in a country of "winners," and if you fall by the wayside, either through some misstep of your own or sheer luck, you're forgotten. Hell, you don't see the vaccine deniers supporting those who've been infected, never mind died, and you don't see the anti-health insurance troops coming out in support of those whose families have gone bankrupt as a result of illnesses they had no hand in causing,
Ain't that America.
And if you know the story, heroin exploded in America because everybody got hooked on opioids, doctors were handing them out like candy. Purdue Pharma said OxyContin wasn't addictive when nothing could be further from the truth, and then when the hooked could no longer get scripts for legal opioids, they turned to the illegal one, heroin. Which for years has been a far cry from the street drug you were afraid of in the last century. Heroin is cheap, and it's delivered to your door, but too often now it's laced with fentanyl...a super-powerful synthetic opioid that can kill you right after you've taken it, just ask Tom Petty. Oh, that's right, you can't. Fentanyl is a boon for those truly in pain, but if you're taking the street version, you're truly taking a risk. Well, the truth is you think you're taking something else, but it's got cheap, powerful fentanyl in it and you die. The cartels love the economics of fentanyl, but those won't help you if you're lying dead in bed.
So, the first three seasons of "Narcos" were the well-known Pablo Escobar story. They dragged it into a third season, but it was pulpy and entertaining and...
That's not "Narcos: Mexico." The story of the Mexican drug cartels is much messier, with more people involved and constant clashes. And unlike in the Colombian/Escobar version, the star of one season doesn't necessarily make it into the next one, BECAUSE THEY'RE DEAD!
That's what "Narcos: Mexico" does so well, demonstrate not only the risks of being a drug dealer, but the collateral damage of their business.
So, the third season is a bit hard to understand, unless you've read "Dreamland." You see the cartels have different "plazas," with different entrances into America, and they're fighting over access and supply, constantly.
But it gets even better, BECAUSE IT'S REAL!
They constantly interlace historical footage amongst the TV series drama. This all happened. These families were at war. The government was corrupt and...
This is where we're heading in America. Believe me. And also believe me there will be collateral damage. This is what happens when you lock out opportunity for the underclass, they find a way to get rich.
And believe me, the drug dealers love the adrenaline of the action. But when they're not doing business, they're partying. Seems like a sad life if you went to college, if you're an educated person. But that's not who these people are. If you want to get rich so you can party, I feel sorry for you. That's a very empty life. I'm never going to underestimate sex, it makes the world go round, it's more important than any business, any amount of money, but when it comes to drinking and drugging, it gets very old very soon, and the conversation attendant to it...may be novel at first, but then it's endless repeats.
And the truth is that's why today's musical stars are seen as second class by the cognoscenti. They're not that rich, and they're not that educated, and all they want to do is party. So they can be manipulated by the rich when needed, and dropped thereafter. That's right, you can get a sponsor, a private, but if you think you're ripping off the man you're sorely mistaken, your pay is a pittance to them and if you don't toe the line you're out, and chances are your window of dealmaking is very short, your fame doesn't last, whereas the corporation is forever and the execs get paid double digit millions year after year after year.
Not that the uneducated are inherently dumb. That's what makes "Narcos: Mexico" so interesting, Amado and Chapo are so damn smart, especially the former!
You can reinvent the system, you've just got to be able to leap forward in thought and then convince the powers-that-be you've got a better way. When it comes to music, the creators of Napster didn't even ask, and at this late date, more than twenty years later, those in power back then still haven't gotten over this. Not the execs, they fired the high-paid boomers, replaced them with low-paid Gen-X'ers and Millennials, and got more from the acts as a result of 360 deals. But really, the labels were saved by Daniel Ek, and if you're legacy talent you're still bitching about this. But instead of complaining, you should look at today's Grammy nominations. Recognize the names? Probably not, time is always marching forward, and time passes you by and then your time runs out.
So, drug dealing is a game. Which requires a lot of thought, a lot of mental effort, along with some muscle. You've got to get a supply. You've got to establish a chain that brings it to the ultimate customer. You've got to pay off law enforcement, and you've got to battle for turf with your competitors. And there is no court of last resort, this isn't about fairness, but smarts and brute force. No one helps you win, it all comes down to you. But the price can be very high, your life. Then again, you can make so much money you could compete with third world countries. And with money comes all kinds of power.
So in this new season of "Narcos: Mexico" we have the stories of multiple plazas, and the evolution of their power. Amado gaining, the Arellanos losing. The Sinaloans going up and down and...
The whole story being chronicled in "La Voz," which is true! And they, the cartels, kill not only their competitors, but journalists, elected officials, if you're going against them, you probably won't survive.
So the series is building up to the ultimate power of El Chapo, that will play out in coming seasons. But at first he's got no way to get his drugs across the border and...
There are loyalties and alignments but can you really trust anybody? And if you're further down the food chain, should you stay loyal to the end or at some point do you switch sides?
As for America and its DEA, it's a fruitless effort. "Narcos" is the best advertisement for the legalization of drugs ever, but that won't ever happen, because there's too much money in it and the drugs themselves are vilified as opposed to the reasons for taking them. I mean if you're uneducated, working a low level service job, never mind manual labor, what else have you got but getting high and hopefully sex? Nothing. And drugs are glorified by the entertainers and everybody is smoking cigarettes, especially in "Narcos." You think you're immune, that the actions of your youth will never catch up with you, but Billy Hinsche died of lung cancer over the weekend, all that smoking caught up with him, at 70, which may sound old to you today but when you get to that age, believe me, you'll want much more time.
So, the third season of "Narcos: Mexico" is a commitment. There is an arc, but it is multifarious and confusing. But that's life, it's rarely linear and ordered like it is in a movie. And speaking of movies, they never go as deep as these extended streaming series do.
So...
Either you're watching "Narcos" or you're not. It's one of the progenitors, not as early on the scene as "House of Cards," but it predates "Stranger Things," never mind "Squid Game." "Narcos" arrived when people still thought movies were king, which is certainly no longer true.
And if you want fantasy, go see the Marvel epics. But if you want reality, which when done right is always stranger than fiction, always more educational than fiction, always more riveting than fiction, watch "Narcos."
And if you're caught up, if you watched season 2, I recommend season 3. It's an investment as opposed to a delightful trifle. The stories are not as clean-cut. But they're real, you'll get a peek into the way it was, and the way it still is. It's happening today, it looks like it will never go away. And you can rarely identify with the protagonists, as DEA agent Walt says, he's not a good guy, but real life is not a comic book, it's complicated, with many more losers than winners, and the truth is everybody wants to play the game and win at some level. Just like the Narcos.
I don't like having to wait so long for a new season, but I'd rather they continue to take the time to get it right. "Narcos: Mexico" rings true, which is the most riveting and scary thing about it.
If you want to know what is going on with the drug war, you've got to read the Sam Quinones books. Start with "Dreamland," which delineates the beginning and growth of the opioid epidemic, from rural Kentucky to south of the border, and his new one, "The Least of Us," which is all about today's fentanyl epidemic, as well as the meth story. One of the bottom lines is Quinones believes the surge in meth use is causing a surge in schizophrenia. Actions have consequences. You may survive a Covid-19 infection, but fifty percent of the infected have ongoing symptoms, I know two people who still don't have a sense of taste and smell eighteen months on. So beware. Then again, we live in a country of "winners," and if you fall by the wayside, either through some misstep of your own or sheer luck, you're forgotten. Hell, you don't see the vaccine deniers supporting those who've been infected, never mind died, and you don't see the anti-health insurance troops coming out in support of those whose families have gone bankrupt as a result of illnesses they had no hand in causing,
Ain't that America.
And if you know the story, heroin exploded in America because everybody got hooked on opioids, doctors were handing them out like candy. Purdue Pharma said OxyContin wasn't addictive when nothing could be further from the truth, and then when the hooked could no longer get scripts for legal opioids, they turned to the illegal one, heroin. Which for years has been a far cry from the street drug you were afraid of in the last century. Heroin is cheap, and it's delivered to your door, but too often now it's laced with fentanyl...a super-powerful synthetic opioid that can kill you right after you've taken it, just ask Tom Petty. Oh, that's right, you can't. Fentanyl is a boon for those truly in pain, but if you're taking the street version, you're truly taking a risk. Well, the truth is you think you're taking something else, but it's got cheap, powerful fentanyl in it and you die. The cartels love the economics of fentanyl, but those won't help you if you're lying dead in bed.
So, the first three seasons of "Narcos" were the well-known Pablo Escobar story. They dragged it into a third season, but it was pulpy and entertaining and...
That's not "Narcos: Mexico." The story of the Mexican drug cartels is much messier, with more people involved and constant clashes. And unlike in the Colombian/Escobar version, the star of one season doesn't necessarily make it into the next one, BECAUSE THEY'RE DEAD!
That's what "Narcos: Mexico" does so well, demonstrate not only the risks of being a drug dealer, but the collateral damage of their business.
So, the third season is a bit hard to understand, unless you've read "Dreamland." You see the cartels have different "plazas," with different entrances into America, and they're fighting over access and supply, constantly.
But it gets even better, BECAUSE IT'S REAL!
They constantly interlace historical footage amongst the TV series drama. This all happened. These families were at war. The government was corrupt and...
This is where we're heading in America. Believe me. And also believe me there will be collateral damage. This is what happens when you lock out opportunity for the underclass, they find a way to get rich.
And believe me, the drug dealers love the adrenaline of the action. But when they're not doing business, they're partying. Seems like a sad life if you went to college, if you're an educated person. But that's not who these people are. If you want to get rich so you can party, I feel sorry for you. That's a very empty life. I'm never going to underestimate sex, it makes the world go round, it's more important than any business, any amount of money, but when it comes to drinking and drugging, it gets very old very soon, and the conversation attendant to it...may be novel at first, but then it's endless repeats.
And the truth is that's why today's musical stars are seen as second class by the cognoscenti. They're not that rich, and they're not that educated, and all they want to do is party. So they can be manipulated by the rich when needed, and dropped thereafter. That's right, you can get a sponsor, a private, but if you think you're ripping off the man you're sorely mistaken, your pay is a pittance to them and if you don't toe the line you're out, and chances are your window of dealmaking is very short, your fame doesn't last, whereas the corporation is forever and the execs get paid double digit millions year after year after year.
Not that the uneducated are inherently dumb. That's what makes "Narcos: Mexico" so interesting, Amado and Chapo are so damn smart, especially the former!
You can reinvent the system, you've just got to be able to leap forward in thought and then convince the powers-that-be you've got a better way. When it comes to music, the creators of Napster didn't even ask, and at this late date, more than twenty years later, those in power back then still haven't gotten over this. Not the execs, they fired the high-paid boomers, replaced them with low-paid Gen-X'ers and Millennials, and got more from the acts as a result of 360 deals. But really, the labels were saved by Daniel Ek, and if you're legacy talent you're still bitching about this. But instead of complaining, you should look at today's Grammy nominations. Recognize the names? Probably not, time is always marching forward, and time passes you by and then your time runs out.
So, drug dealing is a game. Which requires a lot of thought, a lot of mental effort, along with some muscle. You've got to get a supply. You've got to establish a chain that brings it to the ultimate customer. You've got to pay off law enforcement, and you've got to battle for turf with your competitors. And there is no court of last resort, this isn't about fairness, but smarts and brute force. No one helps you win, it all comes down to you. But the price can be very high, your life. Then again, you can make so much money you could compete with third world countries. And with money comes all kinds of power.
So in this new season of "Narcos: Mexico" we have the stories of multiple plazas, and the evolution of their power. Amado gaining, the Arellanos losing. The Sinaloans going up and down and...
The whole story being chronicled in "La Voz," which is true! And they, the cartels, kill not only their competitors, but journalists, elected officials, if you're going against them, you probably won't survive.
So the series is building up to the ultimate power of El Chapo, that will play out in coming seasons. But at first he's got no way to get his drugs across the border and...
There are loyalties and alignments but can you really trust anybody? And if you're further down the food chain, should you stay loyal to the end or at some point do you switch sides?
As for America and its DEA, it's a fruitless effort. "Narcos" is the best advertisement for the legalization of drugs ever, but that won't ever happen, because there's too much money in it and the drugs themselves are vilified as opposed to the reasons for taking them. I mean if you're uneducated, working a low level service job, never mind manual labor, what else have you got but getting high and hopefully sex? Nothing. And drugs are glorified by the entertainers and everybody is smoking cigarettes, especially in "Narcos." You think you're immune, that the actions of your youth will never catch up with you, but Billy Hinsche died of lung cancer over the weekend, all that smoking caught up with him, at 70, which may sound old to you today but when you get to that age, believe me, you'll want much more time.
So, the third season of "Narcos: Mexico" is a commitment. There is an arc, but it is multifarious and confusing. But that's life, it's rarely linear and ordered like it is in a movie. And speaking of movies, they never go as deep as these extended streaming series do.
So...
Either you're watching "Narcos" or you're not. It's one of the progenitors, not as early on the scene as "House of Cards," but it predates "Stranger Things," never mind "Squid Game." "Narcos" arrived when people still thought movies were king, which is certainly no longer true.
And if you want fantasy, go see the Marvel epics. But if you want reality, which when done right is always stranger than fiction, always more educational than fiction, always more riveting than fiction, watch "Narcos."
And if you're caught up, if you watched season 2, I recommend season 3. It's an investment as opposed to a delightful trifle. The stories are not as clean-cut. But they're real, you'll get a peek into the way it was, and the way it still is. It's happening today, it looks like it will never go away. And you can rarely identify with the protagonists, as DEA agent Walt says, he's not a good guy, but real life is not a comic book, it's complicated, with many more losers than winners, and the truth is everybody wants to play the game and win at some level. Just like the Narcos.
I don't like having to wait so long for a new season, but I'd rather they continue to take the time to get it right. "Narcos: Mexico" rings true, which is the most riveting and scary thing about it.
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Monday, 22 November 2021
Thank You Songs-This Week On SiriusXM
Songs with "thanks" in the title and/or lyrics
Tune in tomorrow, Novemver 23rd, 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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Tune in tomorrow, Novemver 23rd, 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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LL Cool J At The R&RHOF
He knocked us out. It was his Prince at the Super Bowl moment.
I can't watch this stuff in real time, I'm not even sure if I care anymore. You've got white girls and Tom Hanks blandly testifying as to the greatness of Carole King, who is truly the G.O.A.T., and then Dr. Dre comes out and hits the ball so far over the fence my jaw is still dropped.
Come on. Dre was speaking from the HEART! This wasn't some star du jour, some entertainer booked for marquee value, this was a superstar of hip-hop laying it down for a guy...
Who most of us thought didn't belong in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
But in this performance he proved that he deserves a spot.
Let's see... Hip-hop crossed over to white radio, on KROQ, with "The Message." It was an underground east coast scene that couldn't be held down. And then the west coast got involved and by time Snoop Dogg and Dre came together, it killed rock and roll. Hell, I haven't seen a rock performance as good as LL's in EONS!
But this was a different era, this was when music was still dominant, when it truly defined the culture, the last time this happened. Yes, rock started in the fifties, flowered in the sixties, cleaned up in the seventies and went global in the eighties and by time we got to the end of that decade we had hair bands singing ballads in spandex and then hip-hop came along and wiped the floor.
Of course we had Nirvana. But no one could keep Kurt Cobain down, he was a rock and roll original, a combination of Carole King and the punk of both the U.K. and England distilled in bite-sized hits and the public couldn't hold back, they were infected. But after that...
Of course we had hit rock records. But in the last ten years rock died because it lost its essence, its truth, its sense of melody, its belief that the music is paramount.
Although this is even worse in hip-hop, where becoming a brand is more important than what's in the grooves. But LL Cool J predates all that. When to paraphrase Max Yasgur, it was about the music, and only the music, and we could all pay fealty in happiness to it.
Well, not the east coast and west coast, but that's a different subject.
So today we've got Kardashians who sing. You can bump your ass to the music, you can shoot selfies, you just can't be saved. When once upon a time music saved EVERYBODY!
So to tell you the truth, I can fast-forward through anything. Like I needed to see Jennifer Hudson pay tribute to Aretha Franklin one more time? I mean WHY? She's not the one being inducted, it's Carole King, who thankfully got her time at the piano, but everything else, Ms. Hudson, was superfluous, she's not in the Hall and never will be, BECAUSE SHE'S NOT AN ORIGINAL! We don't want singers, we want something more, people who deliver life itself, who are embodied in the songs, which they make their own, whether it be through their own lyrics, music or both.
So...
The white elite Democrats believe it's all about education, manipulating the system to stay on top. And then along comes this guy in a silver suit who takes everybody into space. I mean you're sitting there watching and all you want to do is get CLOSER! This is what music used to specialize in. This is why Chris Stapleton wins all the awards every damn year and the poseurs playing to the lowest common denominator, singing about babies and church, do not. DON'T PANDER! If you can't risk going into the wilderness, following your own muse, if you need twenty other writers to put it together, you've missed the point, we want you to channel GOD, and that's what LL Cool J did tonight.
I mean the energy, the power, there was more than you get in a rock show. I haven't yet seen the Dave Grohl parade that closes this show, but there's no way it can compete with LL Cool J's performance. Grohl smiles, he strums his guitar, LL WAS the music. You weren't distanced, you were drawn in, you wanted to get closer, which is why Black culture runs this country, despite the denigration of the people of color's power. I mean you don't want to be so afraid of your girlfriend getting pregnant that you won't have sex, all the mores, the viewpoints of the scared white people, can't hold a candle to the message of LL Cool J and Dre and...
Eminem.
Travis Scott brought Drake out at Astroworld as a special guest. Drake is the biggest star in America, maybe the world, but he's not dangerous, there's no edge, he's selling entertainment. LL Cool J was not about entertainment. And just when you thought the roof couldn't be lifted any higher, Eminem came along and blew it right off.
I mean Em's got a dark beard, he's wearing a hat, you'd be forgiven if you didn't recognize him. But once he opened his mouth, once he poured his words into the mic...the two of them on stage together, it was the musical highlight of a very sad live music year. We think about Covid, and politics, and then LL Cool J and Eminem come out and transcend both, and demonstrate that words and attitude are everything, and if you believe in what you're doing we can TELL!
Meanwhile, the audience's heads are exploding as if Oprah gave everybody there a Lamborghini.
And then J.Lo appeared. Why? We all know she can't sing, we all know her vocals were fixed in post. Carole King comes out looking her age and lays her hands on the piano and puts her mouth to the mic and the years fade away, because when done right music is timeless, and there's nothing Jenny from the block has ever done that will stand the test of time.
But then thankfully Ms. Lopez left the stage and LL goes right back into it, without missing a beat. He's not slowing down, he's got Kiki Dee's music in him, he's delivering, all you can do is stand at attention and MARVEL!
And that's what everybody in the arena was doing, standing. And those who were infected by this music the first time around were mouthing the words, they knew them all by heart, however fast LL was spitting them.
And then, he stopped and the arena EXPLODED! I mean as great as Paul McCartney is, and we saw him in the audience, there's no way he could have generated this heat, we've all seen his trick, experienced his magic, but LL Cool J was a REVELATION! Some knew, not everybody, but now they're aware, they'll never forget it.
I mean remember Prince at the Super Bowl? He came with something to prove, and he did, he superseded the game itself. Quick, who played, who won? I doubt you know, but you remember the purple one delivering on stage.
And even the peripheral dancers worked. BECAUSE OF THE ENERGY! That's a building block of rock and roll, it's part of the ESSENCE!
And when the noise quiets down and LL comes to the mic, what does he talk about? HUMILITY! I mean it's supposed to be the rappers who brag, but LL's playing it cool. And then he pays respect to the rockers, says how hip-hop was built upon their music. Sure, he thanked God, but not as much as he thanked his mother, you need someone to believe in you, and he mentioned his family, because fame is not enough.
And he also referenced hard work. You may have the dream, but are you willing to do the work? Very few are. LL talked about the rejection before Def Jam took a chance on him. Can you handle it? People have no idea how hard it is to make it, without a safety net. It's not like LL could have gone to graduate school, gotten a job at his father's firm, no, this hip-hop thing had to WORK! And he made sure it did.
I'm positively blown away. Do you know how hard it is to impress someone, anyone, with music on TV? Nearly impossible, which is why live music TV ratings are consistently awful. And then LL Cool J comes along and blows all the carbon off the valves, cleans out the pipes, in just a handful of minutes demonstrates why he deserves to be a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, convincing even naysayers like me.
LL... WELCOME!
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-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
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I can't watch this stuff in real time, I'm not even sure if I care anymore. You've got white girls and Tom Hanks blandly testifying as to the greatness of Carole King, who is truly the G.O.A.T., and then Dr. Dre comes out and hits the ball so far over the fence my jaw is still dropped.
Come on. Dre was speaking from the HEART! This wasn't some star du jour, some entertainer booked for marquee value, this was a superstar of hip-hop laying it down for a guy...
Who most of us thought didn't belong in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
But in this performance he proved that he deserves a spot.
Let's see... Hip-hop crossed over to white radio, on KROQ, with "The Message." It was an underground east coast scene that couldn't be held down. And then the west coast got involved and by time Snoop Dogg and Dre came together, it killed rock and roll. Hell, I haven't seen a rock performance as good as LL's in EONS!
But this was a different era, this was when music was still dominant, when it truly defined the culture, the last time this happened. Yes, rock started in the fifties, flowered in the sixties, cleaned up in the seventies and went global in the eighties and by time we got to the end of that decade we had hair bands singing ballads in spandex and then hip-hop came along and wiped the floor.
Of course we had Nirvana. But no one could keep Kurt Cobain down, he was a rock and roll original, a combination of Carole King and the punk of both the U.K. and England distilled in bite-sized hits and the public couldn't hold back, they were infected. But after that...
Of course we had hit rock records. But in the last ten years rock died because it lost its essence, its truth, its sense of melody, its belief that the music is paramount.
Although this is even worse in hip-hop, where becoming a brand is more important than what's in the grooves. But LL Cool J predates all that. When to paraphrase Max Yasgur, it was about the music, and only the music, and we could all pay fealty in happiness to it.
Well, not the east coast and west coast, but that's a different subject.
So today we've got Kardashians who sing. You can bump your ass to the music, you can shoot selfies, you just can't be saved. When once upon a time music saved EVERYBODY!
So to tell you the truth, I can fast-forward through anything. Like I needed to see Jennifer Hudson pay tribute to Aretha Franklin one more time? I mean WHY? She's not the one being inducted, it's Carole King, who thankfully got her time at the piano, but everything else, Ms. Hudson, was superfluous, she's not in the Hall and never will be, BECAUSE SHE'S NOT AN ORIGINAL! We don't want singers, we want something more, people who deliver life itself, who are embodied in the songs, which they make their own, whether it be through their own lyrics, music or both.
So...
The white elite Democrats believe it's all about education, manipulating the system to stay on top. And then along comes this guy in a silver suit who takes everybody into space. I mean you're sitting there watching and all you want to do is get CLOSER! This is what music used to specialize in. This is why Chris Stapleton wins all the awards every damn year and the poseurs playing to the lowest common denominator, singing about babies and church, do not. DON'T PANDER! If you can't risk going into the wilderness, following your own muse, if you need twenty other writers to put it together, you've missed the point, we want you to channel GOD, and that's what LL Cool J did tonight.
I mean the energy, the power, there was more than you get in a rock show. I haven't yet seen the Dave Grohl parade that closes this show, but there's no way it can compete with LL Cool J's performance. Grohl smiles, he strums his guitar, LL WAS the music. You weren't distanced, you were drawn in, you wanted to get closer, which is why Black culture runs this country, despite the denigration of the people of color's power. I mean you don't want to be so afraid of your girlfriend getting pregnant that you won't have sex, all the mores, the viewpoints of the scared white people, can't hold a candle to the message of LL Cool J and Dre and...
Eminem.
Travis Scott brought Drake out at Astroworld as a special guest. Drake is the biggest star in America, maybe the world, but he's not dangerous, there's no edge, he's selling entertainment. LL Cool J was not about entertainment. And just when you thought the roof couldn't be lifted any higher, Eminem came along and blew it right off.
I mean Em's got a dark beard, he's wearing a hat, you'd be forgiven if you didn't recognize him. But once he opened his mouth, once he poured his words into the mic...the two of them on stage together, it was the musical highlight of a very sad live music year. We think about Covid, and politics, and then LL Cool J and Eminem come out and transcend both, and demonstrate that words and attitude are everything, and if you believe in what you're doing we can TELL!
Meanwhile, the audience's heads are exploding as if Oprah gave everybody there a Lamborghini.
And then J.Lo appeared. Why? We all know she can't sing, we all know her vocals were fixed in post. Carole King comes out looking her age and lays her hands on the piano and puts her mouth to the mic and the years fade away, because when done right music is timeless, and there's nothing Jenny from the block has ever done that will stand the test of time.
But then thankfully Ms. Lopez left the stage and LL goes right back into it, without missing a beat. He's not slowing down, he's got Kiki Dee's music in him, he's delivering, all you can do is stand at attention and MARVEL!
And that's what everybody in the arena was doing, standing. And those who were infected by this music the first time around were mouthing the words, they knew them all by heart, however fast LL was spitting them.
And then, he stopped and the arena EXPLODED! I mean as great as Paul McCartney is, and we saw him in the audience, there's no way he could have generated this heat, we've all seen his trick, experienced his magic, but LL Cool J was a REVELATION! Some knew, not everybody, but now they're aware, they'll never forget it.
I mean remember Prince at the Super Bowl? He came with something to prove, and he did, he superseded the game itself. Quick, who played, who won? I doubt you know, but you remember the purple one delivering on stage.
And even the peripheral dancers worked. BECAUSE OF THE ENERGY! That's a building block of rock and roll, it's part of the ESSENCE!
And when the noise quiets down and LL comes to the mic, what does he talk about? HUMILITY! I mean it's supposed to be the rappers who brag, but LL's playing it cool. And then he pays respect to the rockers, says how hip-hop was built upon their music. Sure, he thanked God, but not as much as he thanked his mother, you need someone to believe in you, and he mentioned his family, because fame is not enough.
And he also referenced hard work. You may have the dream, but are you willing to do the work? Very few are. LL talked about the rejection before Def Jam took a chance on him. Can you handle it? People have no idea how hard it is to make it, without a safety net. It's not like LL could have gone to graduate school, gotten a job at his father's firm, no, this hip-hop thing had to WORK! And he made sure it did.
I'm positively blown away. Do you know how hard it is to impress someone, anyone, with music on TV? Nearly impossible, which is why live music TV ratings are consistently awful. And then LL Cool J comes along and blows all the carbon off the valves, cleans out the pipes, in just a handful of minutes demonstrates why he deserves to be a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, convincing even naysayers like me.
LL... WELCOME!
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1
If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
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Sunday, 21 November 2021
ABBA's Failure In The Marketplace
They'd do boffo at the b.o., but the only people who were interested in a new ABBA album turned out to be in the media.
The media thrives on hype. And it prefers entertainers who already have mindshare. It's a comeback story, there's an arc, the reunion, the cutting of the album, the cataloging of their prior work, the character studies, and then the music itself, which no one wants to hear.
Of course people checked out "Voyage" just to see what it sounded like, to see if the magic was still there, but there was no way in hell "Voyage" could be a hit, NO WAY!
First and foremost ABBA is a singles band, and to sell an album they've got to have a hit, but it's absolutely impossible for ABBA to have a hit today, the only way they can conquer the chart is by aligning with a hitmaker du jour, as Elton John has done. But their music is out of touch with today's scene, youngsters aren't aware of them and the avenues of mainstream exposure are more limited than ever before. Look at the Spotify Top 50, does ABBA belong there? OF COURSE NOT!
That's the world we live in. To have a hit you've got to make hip-hop or beat-infused music, with the 808 king and melody oftentimes absent. And if this is not your forte, don't even start, just build a body of work, and build your career on the road.
Yes, the paradigm has flipped. Music is now a live medium, not a recorded one. Of course there are records, but they mean less than ever before, hits reach fewer people than ever before, and no one expects hit music makers to last and they're only as good as their last hit. Then again, in the modern marketplace you can have a few stiffs and it doesn't matter, you can still have another hit, which was previously impossible. But today failure instantly disappears. As does greatness too frequently. Yes, you can record a great track and it can stiff. The era of cream rising to the top is over, it ended back in 2012 or so.
As for creating a new hit if you're not already firmly in the marketplace, having had hits already, it's going to be very damn SLOW! Think of it this way, hits are oceans, vast and broad. But rivers feed those oceans. And there are a zillion streams dripping into bigger rivers, gaining momentum until they hit the ocean. That journey takes time. Which is why if you're not aligned with a hitmaker du jour, be prepared to slug it out. Of course there are overnight hits, like Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road," but they're extremely rare. And, Lil Nas X's hit was the first big TikTok breakout, and that can only be done once. Which is why we only had "In Rainbows"/name your own price once. The first time it's new, a novelty, a story, after that it's de rigueur and almost instantly passé.
Acts are out of touch with the marketplace. But those on the other side of the glass understand it, not only the label employees, but the producers, like Max Martin. Max Martin's career would be toast if he was the act, the market would not accept all his twists and turns, the different kinds of music he made with various different people. The market labels you and it's nearly impossible to broaden your appeal, to change to do something different, you're lucky if you've hit with what you've got.
And, the music is an accessory, promotion for the tour, whereas it used to be vice versa. Don't think about making money from your recordings, but how you can use those as an element in your marketing plan for your tour. Either you're in it for the long term or you're rolling the dice, and the odds are long. It's nearly impossible to crack the Spotify Top 50 for most genres of music, don't complain, go the other way. The key is to bond the audience to you, to generate fans. Fans of the act, not fans of the track. People who like a track are not convinced the act is worth paying attention to. But if you have a body of work of a similar caliber, they're interested.
This isn't going to change. As for those complaining about the low payouts for recordings on streaming services, the truth is in between the old paradigm and the new, a whole hell of a lot of other product and diversions flooded the market. You used to compete against 5,000 other albums a year, now you compete against 60,000 new tracks a day, as well as the history of recorded music. So attention per product, per album, goes down. Look at TV ratings, they're the same. And same at Netflix. They aren't in the ratings business, they're in the business of getting you to continue to cough up your subscription fee every month. This is how Disney+ faltered. Disney+ appealed to children and "Star Wars" fans, there are only so many of them, so signups this last quarter were anemic. Netflix appeals to EVERYBODY, and its subscription numbers went up beyond expectations. And Netflix not only has a broad swath of genres represented, it's got a huge number of shows! And the truth is, it's never clear what will resonate with the audience, which is why you must make a lot of product, no one could foresee "Squid Game" being an international monster. And speaking of international, all those Latin acts, like Bad Bunny, would have previously been ghettoized, they'd find it impossible to conquer the marketplace and sell out arenas and stadiums. But now their target market can be reached, and in addition new people who were unaware of the music previously can be exposed.
You're alone out there. If you're depending upon the machine to carry you, you're delusional. The machine has endless choices, it doesn't need any specific act, it just needs hit acts, and there are always enough of them.
So, ABBA put out an album to hype their virtual live show. Well, the word got out, but I'm not sure a new album was the way to go. It has now tarnished the act's image a bit and taken the focus off the live project, where all the potential money is.
So, if you're a heritage act, forget the Spotify Top 50 unless you tie up with an act with Spotify Top 50 success. And if you want to make money, create/jump on/be first in a new paradigm. The Eagles did this with Walmart, "Long Road Out of Eden" didn't penetrate radio, it was a sales event that entered millions of the homes of boomers. And today the band rarely plays a track from the double album live. The audience doesn't want it. And this is depressing, but it's reality. So, make new music for yourself, to feed the hard core fans, because the hit marketplace is closed to you, CLOSED!
And then you had U2 and Apple. They got paid, although there was huge backlash, the music being driven down the throats of people who didn't want it. There are people who don't want to be forced to get vaccinated, and there are people who don't want U2 on their computer or phone EVER!
But both of the above were sales games. How can you get people to actually listen to your new music?
Well, first don't make a lot of it. You need to go track by track, trying to have a hit. And you need tie-ins with television and so many other outlets. Still, it's hard to get anybody but a hard core fan to stream your new music again and again, if for no other reason than there's so much in the marketplace, they're fans of what you did, not what you're doing.
And on one hand this sounds bad, but on the other it sounds good. The truth is there are more live shows than ever before. People are hungering for live music. And sure, there are huge productions set to hard drive that fill arenas, but there are many acts sans production who play live, who evidence humanity, who are doing endless business on the road, and the young acts' business increases in proportion to the quality of their live show and their recorded music in concert. Which is why metal is thriving but it's nowhere in the Spotify Top 50, and metal is not the only genre.
ABBA employed a twentieth century plan in a twenty first century world. Maybe you could come back in the aughts, but as far as new music, it had better be the early aughts, when music television still meant something, when VH1 could bang your track.
Now, if you're a classic rocker planning your comeback/reunion tour, it's too late, unless you're a giant, like ABBA, which is not going on the road, or Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, who are not getting back together, they're the biggest of the big. If you played the Fillmore and sold some records long ago, chances are it's too expensive for you to tour today, the numbers don't work. You can go play house concerts, solo, but the costs of production at a bigger building require high ticket prices from an audience that's starting to stay home, with many on fixed budgets. Elvis's merch is going down, BECAUSE HIS AUDIENCE IS DYING! And now it's going to happen with the boomers, and classic rock acts. They were everything, and not long in the future they'll be nothing.
It won't go on like this forever, with only young acts in narrow genres owning spots in the Spotify Top 50. The decline of terrestrial radio will broaden acceptance of other genres. But the truth is, youngsters stream most. But as I said above, stream counts are not everything. It turns out if you give an honest show and change it up on a regular basis it doesn't matter what kind of music you make, you can build an audience and grow. Can you become as rich as a techie or banker? No. But you have more power than they do, because you touch hearts and minds, never underestimate the power of music, because when done right it's got SOUL!
The media thrives on hype. And it prefers entertainers who already have mindshare. It's a comeback story, there's an arc, the reunion, the cutting of the album, the cataloging of their prior work, the character studies, and then the music itself, which no one wants to hear.
Of course people checked out "Voyage" just to see what it sounded like, to see if the magic was still there, but there was no way in hell "Voyage" could be a hit, NO WAY!
First and foremost ABBA is a singles band, and to sell an album they've got to have a hit, but it's absolutely impossible for ABBA to have a hit today, the only way they can conquer the chart is by aligning with a hitmaker du jour, as Elton John has done. But their music is out of touch with today's scene, youngsters aren't aware of them and the avenues of mainstream exposure are more limited than ever before. Look at the Spotify Top 50, does ABBA belong there? OF COURSE NOT!
That's the world we live in. To have a hit you've got to make hip-hop or beat-infused music, with the 808 king and melody oftentimes absent. And if this is not your forte, don't even start, just build a body of work, and build your career on the road.
Yes, the paradigm has flipped. Music is now a live medium, not a recorded one. Of course there are records, but they mean less than ever before, hits reach fewer people than ever before, and no one expects hit music makers to last and they're only as good as their last hit. Then again, in the modern marketplace you can have a few stiffs and it doesn't matter, you can still have another hit, which was previously impossible. But today failure instantly disappears. As does greatness too frequently. Yes, you can record a great track and it can stiff. The era of cream rising to the top is over, it ended back in 2012 or so.
As for creating a new hit if you're not already firmly in the marketplace, having had hits already, it's going to be very damn SLOW! Think of it this way, hits are oceans, vast and broad. But rivers feed those oceans. And there are a zillion streams dripping into bigger rivers, gaining momentum until they hit the ocean. That journey takes time. Which is why if you're not aligned with a hitmaker du jour, be prepared to slug it out. Of course there are overnight hits, like Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road," but they're extremely rare. And, Lil Nas X's hit was the first big TikTok breakout, and that can only be done once. Which is why we only had "In Rainbows"/name your own price once. The first time it's new, a novelty, a story, after that it's de rigueur and almost instantly passé.
Acts are out of touch with the marketplace. But those on the other side of the glass understand it, not only the label employees, but the producers, like Max Martin. Max Martin's career would be toast if he was the act, the market would not accept all his twists and turns, the different kinds of music he made with various different people. The market labels you and it's nearly impossible to broaden your appeal, to change to do something different, you're lucky if you've hit with what you've got.
And, the music is an accessory, promotion for the tour, whereas it used to be vice versa. Don't think about making money from your recordings, but how you can use those as an element in your marketing plan for your tour. Either you're in it for the long term or you're rolling the dice, and the odds are long. It's nearly impossible to crack the Spotify Top 50 for most genres of music, don't complain, go the other way. The key is to bond the audience to you, to generate fans. Fans of the act, not fans of the track. People who like a track are not convinced the act is worth paying attention to. But if you have a body of work of a similar caliber, they're interested.
This isn't going to change. As for those complaining about the low payouts for recordings on streaming services, the truth is in between the old paradigm and the new, a whole hell of a lot of other product and diversions flooded the market. You used to compete against 5,000 other albums a year, now you compete against 60,000 new tracks a day, as well as the history of recorded music. So attention per product, per album, goes down. Look at TV ratings, they're the same. And same at Netflix. They aren't in the ratings business, they're in the business of getting you to continue to cough up your subscription fee every month. This is how Disney+ faltered. Disney+ appealed to children and "Star Wars" fans, there are only so many of them, so signups this last quarter were anemic. Netflix appeals to EVERYBODY, and its subscription numbers went up beyond expectations. And Netflix not only has a broad swath of genres represented, it's got a huge number of shows! And the truth is, it's never clear what will resonate with the audience, which is why you must make a lot of product, no one could foresee "Squid Game" being an international monster. And speaking of international, all those Latin acts, like Bad Bunny, would have previously been ghettoized, they'd find it impossible to conquer the marketplace and sell out arenas and stadiums. But now their target market can be reached, and in addition new people who were unaware of the music previously can be exposed.
You're alone out there. If you're depending upon the machine to carry you, you're delusional. The machine has endless choices, it doesn't need any specific act, it just needs hit acts, and there are always enough of them.
So, ABBA put out an album to hype their virtual live show. Well, the word got out, but I'm not sure a new album was the way to go. It has now tarnished the act's image a bit and taken the focus off the live project, where all the potential money is.
So, if you're a heritage act, forget the Spotify Top 50 unless you tie up with an act with Spotify Top 50 success. And if you want to make money, create/jump on/be first in a new paradigm. The Eagles did this with Walmart, "Long Road Out of Eden" didn't penetrate radio, it was a sales event that entered millions of the homes of boomers. And today the band rarely plays a track from the double album live. The audience doesn't want it. And this is depressing, but it's reality. So, make new music for yourself, to feed the hard core fans, because the hit marketplace is closed to you, CLOSED!
And then you had U2 and Apple. They got paid, although there was huge backlash, the music being driven down the throats of people who didn't want it. There are people who don't want to be forced to get vaccinated, and there are people who don't want U2 on their computer or phone EVER!
But both of the above were sales games. How can you get people to actually listen to your new music?
Well, first don't make a lot of it. You need to go track by track, trying to have a hit. And you need tie-ins with television and so many other outlets. Still, it's hard to get anybody but a hard core fan to stream your new music again and again, if for no other reason than there's so much in the marketplace, they're fans of what you did, not what you're doing.
And on one hand this sounds bad, but on the other it sounds good. The truth is there are more live shows than ever before. People are hungering for live music. And sure, there are huge productions set to hard drive that fill arenas, but there are many acts sans production who play live, who evidence humanity, who are doing endless business on the road, and the young acts' business increases in proportion to the quality of their live show and their recorded music in concert. Which is why metal is thriving but it's nowhere in the Spotify Top 50, and metal is not the only genre.
ABBA employed a twentieth century plan in a twenty first century world. Maybe you could come back in the aughts, but as far as new music, it had better be the early aughts, when music television still meant something, when VH1 could bang your track.
Now, if you're a classic rocker planning your comeback/reunion tour, it's too late, unless you're a giant, like ABBA, which is not going on the road, or Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, who are not getting back together, they're the biggest of the big. If you played the Fillmore and sold some records long ago, chances are it's too expensive for you to tour today, the numbers don't work. You can go play house concerts, solo, but the costs of production at a bigger building require high ticket prices from an audience that's starting to stay home, with many on fixed budgets. Elvis's merch is going down, BECAUSE HIS AUDIENCE IS DYING! And now it's going to happen with the boomers, and classic rock acts. They were everything, and not long in the future they'll be nothing.
It won't go on like this forever, with only young acts in narrow genres owning spots in the Spotify Top 50. The decline of terrestrial radio will broaden acceptance of other genres. But the truth is, youngsters stream most. But as I said above, stream counts are not everything. It turns out if you give an honest show and change it up on a regular basis it doesn't matter what kind of music you make, you can build an audience and grow. Can you become as rich as a techie or banker? No. But you have more power than they do, because you touch hearts and minds, never underestimate the power of music, because when done right it's got SOUL!
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
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