Spotify playlist: https://tinyurl.com/3kdyhzed
1
Fredda told me she drove cross-country, from Tallahassee to Los Angeles, listening to "It's Too Late to Stop Now" and "'A1A." I knew the Van Morrison live album, but "A1A"?
You know, the Jimmy Buffett album.
But I didn't know. To me Jimmy was a sideshow on ABC Records, a one hit wonder with the soft rock "Come Monday."
But why is it called "A1A"? Fredda couldn't believe I didn't know the highway that ran up the Florida coast. And then she started quoting songs like "Door Number Three" and "Life Is Just a Tire Swing" and I realized this was a Florida thing. It became clear that Jimmy Buffett was the patron saint of Florida. But growing up in the northeast, I was clueless.
The Fredda bought "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes," and suddenly Jimmy Buffett was everywhere, with his anthem "Margaritaville." It turned out the rest of the nation was just a couple of years and a couple of changes behind Florida. Buffett was on his way to becoming an institution.
Then I found "Son of a Son of a Sailor" in the promo bin and bought it for her, and even though the hit was "Cheeseburger in Paradise," it was the opening cut, the title track, that reached me. And only months later I found Jimmy's very first live album in the aforementioned promo bin and bought it for Fredda, but that's when I got hooked. "You Had to Be There" opened up with "Son of a Son of Sailor," but this take was loose in a way the studio version was not. It lived, it breathed, Jimmy joked about his broken leg, it became my favorite version of the song. But what really closed me was "A Pirate Looks at Forty."
"Yes I am a pirate, two hundred years too late
The cannons don't thunder, there's nothing to plunder
I'm an over forty victim of fate
Arriving too late, arriving too late"
I was too young for the Summer of Love in San Francisco. I was too young for a lot of stuff, and then, suddenly, I was too old. It's a very strange transition. They ask for your ID and then they just wave you through without looking. You're dying to be twenty one, but once you pass that threshold no one cares about you, no one is paying attention, you're on your own.
And by time I was listening to "A Pirate Looks at Forty" it was the late seventies, which were very different from the early seventies. In the early seventies we licked our wounds from the war, we went back to the land. In the late seventies it became about hedonism and money, and I felt lost in the past. I'm still lost in the past. I never bought a leisure suit, my values were embedded back in the sixties and early seventies, I was a man out of time, still am.
Then we went to see Jimmy at the Greek. I had no idea. It was a club I was unaware of. There were routines to certain songs. "Fins to the left, fins to the right"... You either had to disdain the whole thing or join right in, and really there was no choice, I bought every album thereafter.
2
Not long after Irving Azoff summoned me to his office, he called to hire me to help Jimmy have a hit record. It was 1989. Jimmy was doing boffo at the b.o., but was only selling 300,000 records.
So I flew down to Key West and... Jimmy wanted nothing to do with me. I was the enemy. Took me a while to realize this. Turns out Jimmy had already cut the entire album, with a new backing crew, which he played with that night at the very first Margaritaville, and he told me he wasn't changing a single note.
Hmm... I was paid to do what?
It took two days for Jimmy to find a time to meet me. And when I got in the cab and proffered the address the driver said, "Oh, Jimmy Buffett's house." Everybody in Key West knew Jimmy, he was the unofficial mayor, he drove the town via his music and lifestyle, I suddenly realized what I was up against.
So we sat in his living room and b.s.'ed about music and the business and... Jimmy ultimately relaxed, once he realized I was not going to tell him what to do and after a few hours I left.
Then I went to Jimmy's studio where Elliott Scheiner played me the entire record. I didn't hear a hit. But I was stunned that Jimmy had laid out all this money by himself, didn't wait for the record company to cough up the dough. That may happen today, but back in '89, that was unheard of. That's how rich Jimmy Buffett was.
3
Took a while for the mainstream to really catch on to Jimmy Buffett. He'd had hits, but they didn't realize he was building an empire. You had to be there to get it, go to a show, visit Margaritaville, buy into the lifestyle, and once Jimmy started to broaden his endeavors to more restaurants and hotels and ultimately retirement villages, never mind writing books, the script flipped. Suddenly Jimmy was not competing with anybody else. He was in a separate category, above the rest. He may have been selling fun, but there was an intelligent, savvy businessman underneath it all, and when you make that kind of money, outside your own bailiwick, you get recognized, you gain respect.
Buffett knew and hung with everybody. Not only musicians, but politicians, business people... Jimmy was on his own tier.
But it all came from the music.
And Jimmy's shows were guaranteed sellouts. Peter Grant may have delivered Led Zeppelin ninety percent of of the gross, but Jimmy was getting in excess of a hundred percent of the gross. How can that be, you ask? Well, not only was every seat sold, these attendees drank prodigiously and purchased merch and...that's the way it was for decades.
I saw Jimmy again. Once at Blackbird Studios, but I didn't let him catch my eye, I didn't let on who I was.
And then at a gig down San Diego way.
But a couple of years back Jimmy e-mailed me and picked up like we were buddies, like we'd been through the war together. In a world where everybody forgets they even met you, never mind your name, I was stunned. And instead of keeping his distance, Jimmy was intimate. And I recorded a podcast with him and his long time compatriot Mac McAnally and he held nothing back, little did I know he already had skin cancer.
And the thing about Jimmy is you wanted his lifestyle. It was superior to that of the traditional rock star. He had boats and planes, was living for adventure, jetting around the world. Sure, he had money, but he wasn't hoarding it, he was spending it. He was always looking forward. Tom Freston told me an amazing story about traveling with Jimmy in Africa and getting in trouble, the kind where what your name is and how much money you have doesn't matter. They escaped, but it wasn't clear they were going to. Jimmy wasn't resting on his laurels, he kept on pushing. Jimmy had two clubs, the parrotheads who went to the shows, true believers, and then his running buddies. That's the group I wanted to belong to. Honestly, I don't know a single rock star who played at a higher level with better friends and Jimmy didn't even boast about it. But if you were paying attention...
And Jimmy gave back. I remember him telling me in Key West that he was flying to Tallahassee the next day to save the manatees.
And now Jimmy Buffett is gone.
4
This is really strange, the changing of the guard, the turning of the generations. It's been happening for thousands of years, but we didn't think it would happen to us.
And what united us baby boomers was the music. Many sold out, lived behind gates, but they still showed up at the gig. Look at the grosses for the classic rock acts. It's a pilgrimage. It's beyond nostalgia. It's your life.
And David Bowie died before his time, Glenn Frey too, but now they're dropping like flies, on a regular basis, and all you can do is take notice and soldier on, and some may live in denial but for me it's an indication that the end is near. For me, our music, our memories...most of it's going to be gone.
So you need to enjoy every sandwich, as Warren Zevon said. You've got to grab on to life. Because you don't want to have any regrets.
Meanwhile they keep dying, Jack Sonni, who played guitar with Dire Straits, and Bernie Marsden, guitarist and one of the songwriters of Whitesnake in just the last few days. And at this point there is little hoopla, it's expected. But Jimmy Buffett?
Jay texted me last night. He thought I already knew. I didn't. We went back and forth about Buffett and then I went online. It was too early, literally only one hit popped up on Google. It was a weird limbo. Jimmy had passed, but it hadn't penetrated the public yet. And then there were a few more stories and a bunch of tweets and I didn't know how I was going to fall asleep.
You see Jimmy was so alive. Really. Not resting on his laurels. Still making new music. And despite some interruptions due to illness, still playing live. Jimmy was a beacon, a god, and then he was cut down like a mere mortal. How do you make sense of this, how do you put it in a slot?
I couldn't. And it took me a long time to fall asleep, and it was hard to stay asleep, and when I awoke everybody knew, but there were two camps, those who really knew and those who didn't. Those who had been there and done that, gone to the shows, played the records while relaxing, who knew the whole game, and those who only remembered "Margaritaville." I'm happy that Jimmy is getting the obituary of kings, with good placement, depth and analysis, but none of that will bring Jimmy back. He's gone. Another rocker, but like I said above, Jimmy was different, unique, he was more than a musician.
So today, before I went out I put on sunscreen. I was scared straight. But how many more years have I got left? Whenever I say that people laugh and tell me I'll be here for a long time, but my father died at seventy. And Christine McVie didn't even make it to eighty. And Jimmy's death was a reality check, is a reality check. First and foremost, we're on a conveyor belt, and we're gonna fall off sooner or later. Everything we hold dear is ultimately irrelevant. The accoutrements, you know, what you strived for in business, the accumulation of property and money, irrelevant. They say Jimmy Buffett was a billionaire, but that didn't stop cancer, it doesn't care.
And now what happens? Does the Margaritaville brand survive, carrying Jimmy's legacy with it, or does Jimmy fade into the rearview mirror, like even the heroes who sold out arenas back in the day and passed away?
But there's that Buffett pull. Did you read that story about the Margaritaville retirement village in "The New Yorker"?
"Retirement the Margaritaville Way - At the active-living community for Jimmy Buffett enthusiasts, it's five o'clock everywhere": https://tinyurl.com/3k4wup77
If you went to summer camp you'll be more than intrigued. That's what I always tell people, I'd give up everything to go to a permanent summer camp. That's what the Margaritaville retirement community sounds like, summer camp. This is not the right wing Villages, many residents living on fixed incomes. No, the people who live at Margaritaville have assets, they may not even live in Margaritaville full time. But they're active, they have fun, what's not to like?
That's what Jimmy was selling. Fun with a brain. Conscious, not mindless. With a wink of the eye. As upfront as Buffett was, he was still sly, still unknown, unpredictable, you never knew what he'd do next. And he kept on doing it. And it was all built on the music.
5
The best place to dive in is "Songs You Know by Heart," the definitive greatest hits album from 1985. Listen and you'll get it, but you won't get all of it.
Read about "Songs You Know by Heart" here: https://tinyurl.com/mryu79ke
Play the album on Spotify here: https://tinyurl.com/2svh47k8
But I still want to single out some tracks.
On the very first Barnaby album there was "The Captain and the Kid."
"I never used to miss the chance
To climb up on his knee
Listen to the many tales
Of life upon the sea"
Then:
"He died about a month ago
While winter filled the air
And though I cried I was so proud
To love a man so rare"
Jimmy was the kid, the youngster, but now he's the oldster, the captain, and the lyrics fit perfectly.
1973's "A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean" was full of gems, the building blocks of the Jimmy Buffett canon and lifestyle. There's the humorous "The Great Filling Station Holdup," "Grapefruit-Juicy Fruit" and "Peanut Butter Conspiracy." As well as the heartfelt, deep "He Went to Paris," a Buffett classic. And then there's the piece-de-resistance, "Why Don't We Get Drunk."
"Why don't we get drunk and screw
I just bought a waterbed, it's filled up for me and you"
Waterbeds aren't even a thing anymore. But screwing certainly is. And even though "Why Don't We Get Drunk" was never a hit, it was a regular feature in bars across the land, it played on jukeboxes for the hipsters and the cowboys, you heard it and maybe didn't even know who did it, but you knew it.
1979's "Living and Dying in 3/4 Time" had the breakthrough, "Come Monday," as well as "Pencil Thin Mustache" and "God's Own Drunk."
"A1A"? What can I say. It contains the songs I listed above as well as "Stories We Could Tell" and "Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season," which will give you a glimpse into Florida life, back before Miami went nuclear and the politics shifted right and New Orleans was sinking.
And then came "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes," and Buffett became a star. I focus on the songs from before this line of demarcation because Buffett was hungry, doing it to less than spectacular results, but giving it his all. Maybe if the records had come out on Warner Brothers or Columbia...but they didn't, but they're still there on wax, and digitized for modern day consumption.
And then there was "Coconut Telegraph," the title song delineating how the word spreads, I use the term to this very day.
And Jimmy ultimately returned to the charts with 2004's "License to Chill," the cover of Hank Williams's "Hey Good-Lookin'," went to number eight on the country chart with the help of Clint Black, Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith and George Strait.
But one afternoon on SiriusXM I heard my favorite modern day Jimmy Buffett song, a cover of Hawaiian Henry Kapono's "Duke's on Sunday."
"Music playing happy songs, everybody's getting along
Dancing in the sunshine, sippin' on that rosé wine
Good times will set you free
Oh, this is the place to be
On the beach at Waikiki, that's where you'll find me
Here on the southside, Beach Boys paradise
Duke's on Sunday
Duke's on Sunday
Duke's on Sunday"
You can get it just from the lyrics. This is what Jimmy Buffett was selling, music and alcohol and conversation and fun. The weight of the world off your shoulders. Relaxed, free, the real me...and you.
6
I couldn't listen to Jimmy's music last night, or even this morning. The feeling was still raw. He's so alive in this music, but then again he's gone.
Jimmy is famous for his financial success, a brand with credibility that was well-managed and succeeded. He could do what the Wall Street titans could not, which is why they wanted to be in business with him, which is why they respected him.
And it's not only the money, Jimmy had his fingers in the literary world, he wrote and recorded the music for the film version of Tom McGuane's "Rancho Deluxe." This was the last hurrah of hip literary fame. McGuane was a star. As was Ann Beattie. Those days are through, now people only care about how many books you sell, and so much of it is genre tripe, but McGuane and Beattie were going for reality, they were in search of a truth that no one seems to care about anymore, even though they're still writing, in near obscurity outside the literary world.
Ultimately Jimmy married Jane and Tom McGuane became his brother-in-law, ergo the connection. And when I was in Key West Jimmy and Jane were separated. But they got back together...
That's the kind of story we like, one of true love and persistence. Jimmy carried on. He became a star, but did not forget who he was.
Pretty good for a boy from Alabama.
Fins up!
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Saturday, 2 September 2023
Friday, 1 September 2023
How To Make It In The Music Business-SiriusXM This Week
Tune in Saturday September 2nd to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West.
If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app. Search: Lefsetz
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Investment
We're watching a new English series, well an old English series, but I'm going to hold back the name, because if mention it I'll hear from enthusiastic viewers about the plot, and this will depress me.
So I was standing in the bathroom, this is where I do some of my best thinking. If you want to be creative, don't sit in front of the computer, don't try to work at all, take a shower, go out for a hike, you'll be surprised when your synapses will fire with a great idea. Like the article entitled "The Death of Radio?," that idea came to me when I was in a rush to get my act together to go to lunch with Felice. I asked her if we could delay, because oftentimes the idea leaves as fast as it comes, but she didn't want to and I wrote after lunch and it wasn't as good as it would have been, but it worked nonetheless.
So in this case I'd been contemplating what to watch on the flat screen next. Having burned through almost all of the legendary series, we started to dive into movies, but...
I've got a list on my phone. Two, in fact. One for series and one for movies. And there are a ton of great movies I haven't seen, not going to the theatre anymore, because I just can't calm down and relax on demand, never mind the Covid break. But I didn't want to. Emotionally. And as you get older you learn to trust your gut. It'll fail you occasionally, but very rarely. My gut told me not to get married, if only I'd listened to it.
And that's when it hit me, I can't get invested in a movie. It's ninety minutes, sometimes even a few hours, then it's done. Might be an emotional roller coaster, might dazzle me, but then it's over. But I want to be all-in, I want a relationship, I want to dive in deep and marinate, I want a long experience.
I'm not talking a week to week drip. When you binge a series it's in your mind all day, that you're going to watch an episode that night. Actually, multiple episodes, how many will you be able to fit in? And no one else is watching at the same time, so you can't discuss amongst your friends, it's private, like we used to own our records. You remember, that's what separated you from the casual fan. You loved certain acts that never had a hit, that most people had never heard of, that you could turn people on to. Even better, sometimes they later broke through to superstardom and you could say you were there first, you knew which previous albums to buy, you basked in your knowledge and status. That's what it's like watching a great series, especially at a time different from its release. Even well-distributed series, ones that had been bandied about previously, like "The Americans." I mean how good could this FX show be? Very good, excellent. And the funny thing is it got better as it went along, and the finale was satisfying. But watching years after it aired on cable, I felt like I owned it, I talk about it all the time.
But it's rare that an American series hits that note. Right now we're watching a legal series, of which there have been tons in the U.S. But this BBC show is just a bit more real. Just when you think it's "L.A. Law," it surprises you. Oh, and the English don't assume you're dumb, they don't offer bottom of the barrel fare, the English respect you, think you come to the series with a modicum of knowledge. They don't slow down so you can understand, they don't explicate, they're movies, but much, much longer. Used to be movies were highbrow and demanded respect, even American ones, but that's gone, too often it's lowest common denominator, entertainment, and that's not what I'm looking for, I don't want to leave the theatre and forget about it, I want to keep thinking about it. But with a series, there's so much more to think about!
We live in a Tower of Babel era. Everybody has different interests, everybody is into different stuff. And online is a cesspool of self-anointed experts who will insult you if you express a contrary view, especially an unpopular one. So you feel so lonely. It's like we're all in a different race, not even playing the same game.
So we look to invest.
And it doesn't only apply to art. People invest in politicians, many are even invested in Apple. It gives them an identity, something to believe in. However, because of sunk costs, it's difficult to get someone to change their opinion, abandon their investment, they've spent so much money, time and effort demonstrating it, they're just going to throw that overboard?
But I'm talking about art.
And let me be clear, this is different from fandom. Although aligned. Fandom can be more blind, based on less information, it's a status, that you oftentimes display. Investment is private. It's a one to one relationship. It's about the bond, as opposed to the external. You don't need to boast, you don't need to buy and wear merch, it's something that transpires in your head, it's not brain dead attachment, there's thought put into it, the investment may not be able to be taken to the bank, but it's more valuable than currency.
So how do you get someone to invest?
Well, you need a lot of product. Aka the series. And in music, you've got to have a lot of it. If you make one album and tour, even if that album is a gargantuan hit, investment can be involved, but it can be thrown over more easily. No, investment is about careers. And unlike in the old days, you can't wait two, three or five years to release new music. Because the audience is too hungry, it will move on and invest in something else. Now if you're a classic rock act, any act that made its bones in the last century, in the pre-internet era, when there was scarcity, it can be different, but if you're starting today...
What are you providing that people can invest in.
And it's not only music, it's your identity, your personality. When you post hype on social media that works against you, you're not respecting the audience, which already knows everything about you, you're not playing to the invested, but everybody else, and that's contrary to the whole investment paradigm. It's a core that grows outward, the attachment frequently goes unspoken. There's magic. And if you sell too hard the magic evaporates.
And you can't sell out and you can't rave about the money you're making. That's for blind fandom, which will accept anything you do. But to create investment, fans must truly believe they're number one. Forget lip service, it's something you can feel. It's credibility and so much more. This is about the long term, moving mountains, making a difference, not a momentary flash in the pan.
But most artists don't want to do this, they want it to go faster. But if you go faster you lose investment, and therefore you lose an audience that will keep you alive over decades.
Give me something to hold on to, not something I can see in the financial pages, but something human. Which is why you should post online. To demonstrate your identity, to nurture the bond. And the bond is always fantasy, you're filling a hole in people's hearts. So it's not about being friends with your audience, it's not about revealing absolutely everything, there must remain blanks, so people can fill in the gaps, create a whole world in their head. It's like they say, you don't want to meet your heroes. And I've met many, and I must say the mantra almost always applies.
Now there are tons of people watching movies, going to the theatre to view superhero flicks. Then again, there are those invested in food and housing shows on TV. They're invested in the hosts, there are endless episodes, there is something to hold on to. I know, it's a conundrum, because this tends to be cheap reality programming, but there's a lot of it, so people can invest in it.
And then there's "Suits." The story of the summer. It's not like the series got any better, it's just that people can binge it all on their own schedule, they can own it.
This is the future of entertainment today, investment, substantial, for the long haul. It's not something that delivers headlines, but how many read those headlines anyway? Too often press is there just to satiate the creator. The only way to grow is via word of mouth. Which means you need to get one person invested so they can turn someone else on. Believe me, this is different from fandom. If you're moronically telling me how good something is, I ignore you. Like too many who tell me what to watch. They thought it was great, I need to see it. And then I research and find it's mediocre or terrible. And then I wonder about the person suggesting I invest hours of my time. Do they even know the landscape? Are they watching or investing? Same deal with people who tell me about great movies. There are certainly some great ones, but they're rare. But these people are employing old school values, casting themselves as the cineastes of yore. Above the rest of us. But the script has flipped, series are the great entertainment of our era. "The Sopranos" was better than any contemporaneous movie, and people quote it all the time, I mean watcha gonna do...
Yes, people were invested and still are invested in "The Sopranos." And "House of Cards." "The Sopranos" broke premium cable wide, "House of Cards" broke streaming wide. Just one show.
Just like in music. Despite the charts, acts are not really competing with one another, each one is unique, with its own audience. One creative act can bypass the entire commercial system and go straight to people's hearts. But they've got to have something special, that je ne sais quois, and almost nothing does. Which is why despite there being endless series on offer, very few are worth watching.
But while I'm at it, people were invested in HBO. Now they're invested in Netflix. They've got a relationship with the outlet they do not have with Disney or Paramount... Those streaming outlets lack breadth, lack soul, they're Wall Street first, not audience first. How can you be invested in Max when Zaslav cuts product for tax savings, for the bottom line? Those shows with fewer viewers are the ones people invest in, that keep them subscribing, disrespect these people at your peril.
I'd like to say that incoming provides with me a lot of great tips, but I'd be lying if I said so. It's kind of like A&R people, talk to them, they've never found a great unsolicited demo, never happens. The people sending them think they're great, but they've got no idea how the game works, they don't understand the landscape, never mind having no perspective on their work. It's one thing to compete, quite another to transcend.
I'm looking for transcendence, so I can invest.
And I'm not the only one.
So I was standing in the bathroom, this is where I do some of my best thinking. If you want to be creative, don't sit in front of the computer, don't try to work at all, take a shower, go out for a hike, you'll be surprised when your synapses will fire with a great idea. Like the article entitled "The Death of Radio?," that idea came to me when I was in a rush to get my act together to go to lunch with Felice. I asked her if we could delay, because oftentimes the idea leaves as fast as it comes, but she didn't want to and I wrote after lunch and it wasn't as good as it would have been, but it worked nonetheless.
So in this case I'd been contemplating what to watch on the flat screen next. Having burned through almost all of the legendary series, we started to dive into movies, but...
I've got a list on my phone. Two, in fact. One for series and one for movies. And there are a ton of great movies I haven't seen, not going to the theatre anymore, because I just can't calm down and relax on demand, never mind the Covid break. But I didn't want to. Emotionally. And as you get older you learn to trust your gut. It'll fail you occasionally, but very rarely. My gut told me not to get married, if only I'd listened to it.
And that's when it hit me, I can't get invested in a movie. It's ninety minutes, sometimes even a few hours, then it's done. Might be an emotional roller coaster, might dazzle me, but then it's over. But I want to be all-in, I want a relationship, I want to dive in deep and marinate, I want a long experience.
I'm not talking a week to week drip. When you binge a series it's in your mind all day, that you're going to watch an episode that night. Actually, multiple episodes, how many will you be able to fit in? And no one else is watching at the same time, so you can't discuss amongst your friends, it's private, like we used to own our records. You remember, that's what separated you from the casual fan. You loved certain acts that never had a hit, that most people had never heard of, that you could turn people on to. Even better, sometimes they later broke through to superstardom and you could say you were there first, you knew which previous albums to buy, you basked in your knowledge and status. That's what it's like watching a great series, especially at a time different from its release. Even well-distributed series, ones that had been bandied about previously, like "The Americans." I mean how good could this FX show be? Very good, excellent. And the funny thing is it got better as it went along, and the finale was satisfying. But watching years after it aired on cable, I felt like I owned it, I talk about it all the time.
But it's rare that an American series hits that note. Right now we're watching a legal series, of which there have been tons in the U.S. But this BBC show is just a bit more real. Just when you think it's "L.A. Law," it surprises you. Oh, and the English don't assume you're dumb, they don't offer bottom of the barrel fare, the English respect you, think you come to the series with a modicum of knowledge. They don't slow down so you can understand, they don't explicate, they're movies, but much, much longer. Used to be movies were highbrow and demanded respect, even American ones, but that's gone, too often it's lowest common denominator, entertainment, and that's not what I'm looking for, I don't want to leave the theatre and forget about it, I want to keep thinking about it. But with a series, there's so much more to think about!
We live in a Tower of Babel era. Everybody has different interests, everybody is into different stuff. And online is a cesspool of self-anointed experts who will insult you if you express a contrary view, especially an unpopular one. So you feel so lonely. It's like we're all in a different race, not even playing the same game.
So we look to invest.
And it doesn't only apply to art. People invest in politicians, many are even invested in Apple. It gives them an identity, something to believe in. However, because of sunk costs, it's difficult to get someone to change their opinion, abandon their investment, they've spent so much money, time and effort demonstrating it, they're just going to throw that overboard?
But I'm talking about art.
And let me be clear, this is different from fandom. Although aligned. Fandom can be more blind, based on less information, it's a status, that you oftentimes display. Investment is private. It's a one to one relationship. It's about the bond, as opposed to the external. You don't need to boast, you don't need to buy and wear merch, it's something that transpires in your head, it's not brain dead attachment, there's thought put into it, the investment may not be able to be taken to the bank, but it's more valuable than currency.
So how do you get someone to invest?
Well, you need a lot of product. Aka the series. And in music, you've got to have a lot of it. If you make one album and tour, even if that album is a gargantuan hit, investment can be involved, but it can be thrown over more easily. No, investment is about careers. And unlike in the old days, you can't wait two, three or five years to release new music. Because the audience is too hungry, it will move on and invest in something else. Now if you're a classic rock act, any act that made its bones in the last century, in the pre-internet era, when there was scarcity, it can be different, but if you're starting today...
What are you providing that people can invest in.
And it's not only music, it's your identity, your personality. When you post hype on social media that works against you, you're not respecting the audience, which already knows everything about you, you're not playing to the invested, but everybody else, and that's contrary to the whole investment paradigm. It's a core that grows outward, the attachment frequently goes unspoken. There's magic. And if you sell too hard the magic evaporates.
And you can't sell out and you can't rave about the money you're making. That's for blind fandom, which will accept anything you do. But to create investment, fans must truly believe they're number one. Forget lip service, it's something you can feel. It's credibility and so much more. This is about the long term, moving mountains, making a difference, not a momentary flash in the pan.
But most artists don't want to do this, they want it to go faster. But if you go faster you lose investment, and therefore you lose an audience that will keep you alive over decades.
Give me something to hold on to, not something I can see in the financial pages, but something human. Which is why you should post online. To demonstrate your identity, to nurture the bond. And the bond is always fantasy, you're filling a hole in people's hearts. So it's not about being friends with your audience, it's not about revealing absolutely everything, there must remain blanks, so people can fill in the gaps, create a whole world in their head. It's like they say, you don't want to meet your heroes. And I've met many, and I must say the mantra almost always applies.
Now there are tons of people watching movies, going to the theatre to view superhero flicks. Then again, there are those invested in food and housing shows on TV. They're invested in the hosts, there are endless episodes, there is something to hold on to. I know, it's a conundrum, because this tends to be cheap reality programming, but there's a lot of it, so people can invest in it.
And then there's "Suits." The story of the summer. It's not like the series got any better, it's just that people can binge it all on their own schedule, they can own it.
This is the future of entertainment today, investment, substantial, for the long haul. It's not something that delivers headlines, but how many read those headlines anyway? Too often press is there just to satiate the creator. The only way to grow is via word of mouth. Which means you need to get one person invested so they can turn someone else on. Believe me, this is different from fandom. If you're moronically telling me how good something is, I ignore you. Like too many who tell me what to watch. They thought it was great, I need to see it. And then I research and find it's mediocre or terrible. And then I wonder about the person suggesting I invest hours of my time. Do they even know the landscape? Are they watching or investing? Same deal with people who tell me about great movies. There are certainly some great ones, but they're rare. But these people are employing old school values, casting themselves as the cineastes of yore. Above the rest of us. But the script has flipped, series are the great entertainment of our era. "The Sopranos" was better than any contemporaneous movie, and people quote it all the time, I mean watcha gonna do...
Yes, people were invested and still are invested in "The Sopranos." And "House of Cards." "The Sopranos" broke premium cable wide, "House of Cards" broke streaming wide. Just one show.
Just like in music. Despite the charts, acts are not really competing with one another, each one is unique, with its own audience. One creative act can bypass the entire commercial system and go straight to people's hearts. But they've got to have something special, that je ne sais quois, and almost nothing does. Which is why despite there being endless series on offer, very few are worth watching.
But while I'm at it, people were invested in HBO. Now they're invested in Netflix. They've got a relationship with the outlet they do not have with Disney or Paramount... Those streaming outlets lack breadth, lack soul, they're Wall Street first, not audience first. How can you be invested in Max when Zaslav cuts product for tax savings, for the bottom line? Those shows with fewer viewers are the ones people invest in, that keep them subscribing, disrespect these people at your peril.
I'd like to say that incoming provides with me a lot of great tips, but I'd be lying if I said so. It's kind of like A&R people, talk to them, they've never found a great unsolicited demo, never happens. The people sending them think they're great, but they've got no idea how the game works, they don't understand the landscape, never mind having no perspective on their work. It's one thing to compete, quite another to transcend.
I'm looking for transcendence, so I can invest.
And I'm not the only one.
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Thursday, 31 August 2023
Harvey Lisberg-This Week's Podcast
Harvey Lisberg was the manager of Herman's Hermits, 10cc and more. Harvey tells a good story, you'll enjoy this.
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/harvey-lisberg-122186329/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/harvey-lisberg/id1316200737?i=1000626310712
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5PDn8F6p4cpTrrbWPjljSs?si=D5FxHUTcR1SEJRe2l0fhWg
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/0c3615b1-2c6f-49e5-aa62-6d6f65cc4e2e/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-harvey-lisberg
https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast/episode/harvey-lisberg-306914027
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https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/harvey-lisberg-122186329/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/harvey-lisberg/id1316200737?i=1000626310712
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5PDn8F6p4cpTrrbWPjljSs?si=D5FxHUTcR1SEJRe2l0fhWg
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/0c3615b1-2c6f-49e5-aa62-6d6f65cc4e2e/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-harvey-lisberg
https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast/episode/harvey-lisberg-306914027
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Wednesday, 30 August 2023
Mitch Freezes Again
https://tinyurl.com/3arxyraj
This is why we can't have octogenarians, never mind nonagenarians, running the country.
But oh yeah, you can't say that. It's elder abuse. Why is it everybody in America feels entitled to play at a professional level in every endeavor they choose for their entire life? If you're five foot two, you can't play in the NBA. And if you're fifty you can't win the sprint. But you should be able to govern for the rest of your life?
Come on, been driving with any of these people? That's the hardest thing to do with the aged, take away their license. And you'd be surprised how many baby boomers don't like to drive at night, because of the decline of their vision. But no, we need to let the nearly dead run the country!
I want you to name the eighty year old tech experts. I'm waiting. Even the seventy year olds. You know, pushing the envelope, pegging the needle. I'm sure we can shake the bushes and come up with a few, but most aged people are not that tech-savvy, never mind being in the business and changing the world. But I can't say that either, people hate to be labeled! Just because you have an iPhone that does not make you a power user. Quick, do you know when you turn on Do Not Disturb on your Mac it silences your iPhone too? You'd be stunned how much power these devices have, and the younger generations that grew up with them are more familiar, it's more instinctive. Furthermore, they didn't grow up in the era where the first iteration always sucked. Now you expect your brand new product to work right out of the box, whereas you used to turn it on and pray.
Meaning I hate when the government gets into tech. Because the elected officials don't understand it. But if they were younger... Tech drives the world, and all we're told by our oldsters is to get off our devices. But now even cars are computers.
Athletes retire, but not elected officials. Like they have a special sauce running through their veins. If you know any ninety year olds, you don't want them running the country. Sure, there are exceptions, but they're rare, assuming people even live that long. That's another thing, everybody expects to live to a hundred. Hate to burst your bubble, the odds are low, better start living like every day is your last, or at least every year.
This is kind of like 1/6, we see it with our very eyes and we're told it's not true. Yes, 1/6 was a beautiful picnic according to Donald Trump and his acolytes, you'd think they were eating pizza and playing cornhole. If someone froze like McConnell, you'd immediately take them off the field. You don't want them working, you don't want them screwing up. But McConnell freezes and we're told that he's fine. But even worse, now he's frozen twice!
There's nothing to see here. Right...
And let's not make it a right or left thing, Republican or Democrat, Dianne Feinstein has to go too. When she praised Lindsey Graham for his handling of the Barrett hearings, it showed me she'd already lost her marbles, and that was years ago at this point. But no, she stays.
They're making a mockery of the institution. The Supreme Court is a joke. And now Congress too. And it's not only McConnell, but the Freedom Caucus, which they should call the Fredo Caucus. I don't care who elected these people, most Americans can see they're nincompoops. If this is who they're electing, leave me out.
Which brings us to the big kahuna, the big show, the presidential election...
Both Biden and Trump shouldn't run. Period. They're not familiar with modern society. Sure, Biden may know how the wheels turn, and Trump was president for four years, but if I want to know which way the wind blows I wouldn't call either of them.
We're continually writing off our youth. There's no climate change, but it's the youngsters who are going to pay the price. Ditto on the debt. We keep pushing everything down the line to people who get no representation. I mean why vote, you're ignored anyway. That's what many youngsters think, they've tuned out.
They have referees in sport. And they even have a concussion protocol in the NFL. But nothing like this exists in government. Where is the ombudsman who takes you out of the game and retires your jersey?
Oh, don't tell me that Biden beat Trump once. Don't even tell me he's done a good job. Someone younger and in touch needs to be in charge. And I don't want to contemplate Biden dying and Kamala replacing him. She turned me off during the 2020 debates and nothing she's done since has demonstrated that she's credibly in touch with and on the side of me and the rest of the people. Oh, don't get your knickers in a twist. But the reality is if you're voting for Biden you're considering the VP more than ever in history.
As for Trump... One thing is for sure, he's not getting smarter. Not reading books, informing himself. He's not auditing classes at the university, not attending symposia on crime, he's just blowing smoke. I want someone young, with experience with today's issues.
But I am not heard. That's what it's like being a citizen of the U.S. these days. You're not heard. You make no difference. They implore you to vote every few years, otherwise they ignore you. It's a big club and you're not in it and they don't have your best interests at heart. It's all bloviation, triangulation. The climate deniers on the Republican debate stage... Hell, if Trump was in office and a hurricane did damage in California you know he'd be tight with the purse strings. And we can have open carry and deny Black history and we should be surprised when someone who drinks the kool-aid kills three people in Jacksonville?
Where's the common sense. And some of the left wing stuff is crap. Trigger warning? Your whole life needs a warning, get with the program, buck up and survive.
I mean this stuff is obvious to the vast majority, but not in government, not at all. What a crazy country. We saw 1/6 on television, on television!, but we're told not to believe our eyes. I mean come on.
And let's be clear. Nothing I write here will make any difference. Won't change any minds. I just want you to know that you are not alone, that there are people who feel like you. As for hope? You're on your own with that.
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This is why we can't have octogenarians, never mind nonagenarians, running the country.
But oh yeah, you can't say that. It's elder abuse. Why is it everybody in America feels entitled to play at a professional level in every endeavor they choose for their entire life? If you're five foot two, you can't play in the NBA. And if you're fifty you can't win the sprint. But you should be able to govern for the rest of your life?
Come on, been driving with any of these people? That's the hardest thing to do with the aged, take away their license. And you'd be surprised how many baby boomers don't like to drive at night, because of the decline of their vision. But no, we need to let the nearly dead run the country!
I want you to name the eighty year old tech experts. I'm waiting. Even the seventy year olds. You know, pushing the envelope, pegging the needle. I'm sure we can shake the bushes and come up with a few, but most aged people are not that tech-savvy, never mind being in the business and changing the world. But I can't say that either, people hate to be labeled! Just because you have an iPhone that does not make you a power user. Quick, do you know when you turn on Do Not Disturb on your Mac it silences your iPhone too? You'd be stunned how much power these devices have, and the younger generations that grew up with them are more familiar, it's more instinctive. Furthermore, they didn't grow up in the era where the first iteration always sucked. Now you expect your brand new product to work right out of the box, whereas you used to turn it on and pray.
Meaning I hate when the government gets into tech. Because the elected officials don't understand it. But if they were younger... Tech drives the world, and all we're told by our oldsters is to get off our devices. But now even cars are computers.
Athletes retire, but not elected officials. Like they have a special sauce running through their veins. If you know any ninety year olds, you don't want them running the country. Sure, there are exceptions, but they're rare, assuming people even live that long. That's another thing, everybody expects to live to a hundred. Hate to burst your bubble, the odds are low, better start living like every day is your last, or at least every year.
This is kind of like 1/6, we see it with our very eyes and we're told it's not true. Yes, 1/6 was a beautiful picnic according to Donald Trump and his acolytes, you'd think they were eating pizza and playing cornhole. If someone froze like McConnell, you'd immediately take them off the field. You don't want them working, you don't want them screwing up. But McConnell freezes and we're told that he's fine. But even worse, now he's frozen twice!
There's nothing to see here. Right...
And let's not make it a right or left thing, Republican or Democrat, Dianne Feinstein has to go too. When she praised Lindsey Graham for his handling of the Barrett hearings, it showed me she'd already lost her marbles, and that was years ago at this point. But no, she stays.
They're making a mockery of the institution. The Supreme Court is a joke. And now Congress too. And it's not only McConnell, but the Freedom Caucus, which they should call the Fredo Caucus. I don't care who elected these people, most Americans can see they're nincompoops. If this is who they're electing, leave me out.
Which brings us to the big kahuna, the big show, the presidential election...
Both Biden and Trump shouldn't run. Period. They're not familiar with modern society. Sure, Biden may know how the wheels turn, and Trump was president for four years, but if I want to know which way the wind blows I wouldn't call either of them.
We're continually writing off our youth. There's no climate change, but it's the youngsters who are going to pay the price. Ditto on the debt. We keep pushing everything down the line to people who get no representation. I mean why vote, you're ignored anyway. That's what many youngsters think, they've tuned out.
They have referees in sport. And they even have a concussion protocol in the NFL. But nothing like this exists in government. Where is the ombudsman who takes you out of the game and retires your jersey?
Oh, don't tell me that Biden beat Trump once. Don't even tell me he's done a good job. Someone younger and in touch needs to be in charge. And I don't want to contemplate Biden dying and Kamala replacing him. She turned me off during the 2020 debates and nothing she's done since has demonstrated that she's credibly in touch with and on the side of me and the rest of the people. Oh, don't get your knickers in a twist. But the reality is if you're voting for Biden you're considering the VP more than ever in history.
As for Trump... One thing is for sure, he's not getting smarter. Not reading books, informing himself. He's not auditing classes at the university, not attending symposia on crime, he's just blowing smoke. I want someone young, with experience with today's issues.
But I am not heard. That's what it's like being a citizen of the U.S. these days. You're not heard. You make no difference. They implore you to vote every few years, otherwise they ignore you. It's a big club and you're not in it and they don't have your best interests at heart. It's all bloviation, triangulation. The climate deniers on the Republican debate stage... Hell, if Trump was in office and a hurricane did damage in California you know he'd be tight with the purse strings. And we can have open carry and deny Black history and we should be surprised when someone who drinks the kool-aid kills three people in Jacksonville?
Where's the common sense. And some of the left wing stuff is crap. Trigger warning? Your whole life needs a warning, get with the program, buck up and survive.
I mean this stuff is obvious to the vast majority, but not in government, not at all. What a crazy country. We saw 1/6 on television, on television!, but we're told not to believe our eyes. I mean come on.
And let's be clear. Nothing I write here will make any difference. Won't change any minds. I just want you to know that you are not alone, that there are people who feel like you. As for hope? You're on your own with that.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
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-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
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The Death Of Radio?
All you have to know is "Rich Men North of Richmond" went to number one on the streaming chart. Which is a bit complicated, because there's on demand streaming and radio-style streaming, and YouTube and... But if you make it to number one, one thing is for sure, people are listening!
It's all about consumption.
Can we forget about the good old days? You know, with fat label contracts and prodigious CD sales? They're never coming back, ever.
And we can forget about sales all together. The iTunes Store is de minimis, a fraction of what it once was. Twenty years have passed since its inception. To talk about iTunes consumption today is like talking about 78 consumption after the introduction of the 45. It's over. As for physical sales... That's souvenirs, that's not about listening. Travis Scott? He's number one this week because of a cheap vinyl offer. In other words, his residence atop the chart is manipulated. Unlike Morgan Wallen, who is #2, based on consumption, not sales. Ignore sales. They're a metric the labels use to manipulate the chart. But streaming?
You only get paid when people listen. The pre-internet generation hates this. They'd rather sell you the album, get their bucks and forget you. But this is incredibly shortsighted. What you want to do is create something so infectious that it will continue to be consumed, and you will get paid handsomely.
Now in the pre-internet era, the way you sold was via radio, and then music videos on MTV. People saw the product and then went out and bought it. In other words, radio and MTV were promotional tools. Radio's business is advertising. Stations don't care about the music, they'd air anything if enough people listened that they could sell advertising. It was a marriage of convenience. But that marriage is on the rocks.
Yesterday you used radio exposure to sell product. Today, when it works, you are selling streams. Sure, there's publishing money on airplay in the U.S., but the record company doesn't get paid a penny. And the majors no longer own all the publishing, or have admin deals on the hits at a very low rate. So the labels need to focus on streaming to make money, to pay their bills.
Now online radio pays both the record company and the publisher. As does satellite radio, which is selling subscriptions, not ads. But the real money for the labels is in direct consumption. People choosing to listen to a certain track, streaming it. That's it. To think otherwise is to deny the present.
However, the major labels are lost in this new era, and keep on pouring money into radio. Just like advertisers overpay for spots on network TV. Listenership and viewership are way down, but radio and TV are the best way to reach mass, however tiny.
But we've noticed for over a decade that terrestrial radio is moribund, it goes on records after they've become established hits online. But never have we had a track like "Rich Men North of Richmond," which went to number one and stayed there based solely on streams, with radio not even playing the track. "Rich Men North of Richmond" is nowhere to be found on the Mediabase Country chart. And it's not on the Top Forty chart either.
Sure, maybe both of these formats will ultimately go on the Oliver Anthony track. But I must ask, who are these passive terrestrial radio listeners who need to hear it on the radio to then consume? And as I stated above, it is all about consumption. Terrestrial radio pays no recording royalties. None. So why is radio still the labels' number one focus?
And so far, Oliver Anthony has refused to make a deal.
Chance the Rapper made it without a deal, but that's hip-hop, with a long history of free mixtapes. But country? A supposedly controlled market, all beholden to radio?
Maybe we're entering the second revolutionary age. The first started with the internet and Napster. The second starts with the death of traditional exposure outlets. It's not only radio, but television. A late night appearance? Means nothing. SNL and CBS "Sunday Morning" can move the needle, but no other show has this power.
So, the labels find the talent online, after it established success with a fanbase. And then the major label exploits said music...exactly how?
I'm not saying the major labels are going out of business, no way, they control almost all of recorded music history, it's in their vaults. But new music?
Which is why we have so many successful genres of music today. Used to be if it wasn't on radio it was marginal. Then on MTV. Now you don't even need a label to sell tickets. And there's more money in tickets than recordings anyway. Tickets are expensive and shows bond your audience to you. Live is efficient in a way that radio never was.
But how do you get found online?
Well, if you're trying to work it, your only hope is to have a profile in the genre in which you participate. The other players and the audience must be aware of you. Starting from absolute scratch is nearly impossible. As is worldwide domination. The majors still control Top Forty, but it means less than it ever has in its history. The majors fight for slots in the Spotify Top 50, but some of those acts are one hit wonders. Furthermore, as detailed by "Billboard," the majors can't even break a new act anymore. Acts come from the bottom up, not the top down. The bottom up is the internet, top down is manipulation, the aforesaid radio and TV and...if this were working, we'd have new breakout stars, but we don't.
As for dead tree publicity...it works for acts for the aged, it's irrelevant when it comes to youngsters, who are active consumers. Everything that moves the needle is online. Which is a great miasma of information.
Then again, "Rich Men of North Richmond" breaks the paradigm, it is unique. Because it was grown by the public and agitated politicians, who pushed the number. Yes, politicians and their news outlet penumbra have more power than terrestrial radio, traditional TV, anything.
Turns out organic is desirable. And if you're organic, you have a chance of being embraced by people who will promote you.
"Rich Men North of Richmond" is not "Try That in a Small Town." Jason Aldean came from Macon, and he didn't even write the song. And the controversy superseded the track. Which shot up and then fell online, which is the only place where you can make any money. Aldean is #10 on this week's Mediabase Country chart, but "Try That in a Small Town" is #32 on the "Billboard" streaming chart. All that terrestrial radio airplay? The label ain't making a dime. The publisher is. And maybe Aldean's image is being burnished. But when it comes down to money, Oliver Anthony trumps Aldean, period. Because Anthony's consumption figures are much higher.
Mania might get you noticed, but it's the music that sustains you. Which is why Morgan Wallen continues to dominate the charts, with no stunts employed. Wallen can be loved by everybody, it's conventional song structure, with verses and choruses, the basic building blocks. Which are rarely the key elements in the Spotify Top 50, and if they're present the tracks are rarely believable, barely credible.
Something is happening here.
Don't forget, although distributed by a major, Big Loud, Wallen's label, is an independent. Next time will the independent do it themselves?
Do you sell your soul to the company man?
That's what we've been told to do for decades. To take the money. Forget the audience perception. Sell your songs, better to have the cash than the control.
Maybe that's all wrong.
Maybe radio is no longer all powerful.
Maybe Oliver Anthony is a harbinger of what's to come.
But maybe not.
But one thing is for sure, terrestrial radio is circling the drain when it comes to breaking acts. It's never meant less. Maybe you want it to be part of your marketing campaign, but if you're making it number one, you're missing the target.
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It's all about consumption.
Can we forget about the good old days? You know, with fat label contracts and prodigious CD sales? They're never coming back, ever.
And we can forget about sales all together. The iTunes Store is de minimis, a fraction of what it once was. Twenty years have passed since its inception. To talk about iTunes consumption today is like talking about 78 consumption after the introduction of the 45. It's over. As for physical sales... That's souvenirs, that's not about listening. Travis Scott? He's number one this week because of a cheap vinyl offer. In other words, his residence atop the chart is manipulated. Unlike Morgan Wallen, who is #2, based on consumption, not sales. Ignore sales. They're a metric the labels use to manipulate the chart. But streaming?
You only get paid when people listen. The pre-internet generation hates this. They'd rather sell you the album, get their bucks and forget you. But this is incredibly shortsighted. What you want to do is create something so infectious that it will continue to be consumed, and you will get paid handsomely.
Now in the pre-internet era, the way you sold was via radio, and then music videos on MTV. People saw the product and then went out and bought it. In other words, radio and MTV were promotional tools. Radio's business is advertising. Stations don't care about the music, they'd air anything if enough people listened that they could sell advertising. It was a marriage of convenience. But that marriage is on the rocks.
Yesterday you used radio exposure to sell product. Today, when it works, you are selling streams. Sure, there's publishing money on airplay in the U.S., but the record company doesn't get paid a penny. And the majors no longer own all the publishing, or have admin deals on the hits at a very low rate. So the labels need to focus on streaming to make money, to pay their bills.
Now online radio pays both the record company and the publisher. As does satellite radio, which is selling subscriptions, not ads. But the real money for the labels is in direct consumption. People choosing to listen to a certain track, streaming it. That's it. To think otherwise is to deny the present.
However, the major labels are lost in this new era, and keep on pouring money into radio. Just like advertisers overpay for spots on network TV. Listenership and viewership are way down, but radio and TV are the best way to reach mass, however tiny.
But we've noticed for over a decade that terrestrial radio is moribund, it goes on records after they've become established hits online. But never have we had a track like "Rich Men North of Richmond," which went to number one and stayed there based solely on streams, with radio not even playing the track. "Rich Men North of Richmond" is nowhere to be found on the Mediabase Country chart. And it's not on the Top Forty chart either.
Sure, maybe both of these formats will ultimately go on the Oliver Anthony track. But I must ask, who are these passive terrestrial radio listeners who need to hear it on the radio to then consume? And as I stated above, it is all about consumption. Terrestrial radio pays no recording royalties. None. So why is radio still the labels' number one focus?
And so far, Oliver Anthony has refused to make a deal.
Chance the Rapper made it without a deal, but that's hip-hop, with a long history of free mixtapes. But country? A supposedly controlled market, all beholden to radio?
Maybe we're entering the second revolutionary age. The first started with the internet and Napster. The second starts with the death of traditional exposure outlets. It's not only radio, but television. A late night appearance? Means nothing. SNL and CBS "Sunday Morning" can move the needle, but no other show has this power.
So, the labels find the talent online, after it established success with a fanbase. And then the major label exploits said music...exactly how?
I'm not saying the major labels are going out of business, no way, they control almost all of recorded music history, it's in their vaults. But new music?
Which is why we have so many successful genres of music today. Used to be if it wasn't on radio it was marginal. Then on MTV. Now you don't even need a label to sell tickets. And there's more money in tickets than recordings anyway. Tickets are expensive and shows bond your audience to you. Live is efficient in a way that radio never was.
But how do you get found online?
Well, if you're trying to work it, your only hope is to have a profile in the genre in which you participate. The other players and the audience must be aware of you. Starting from absolute scratch is nearly impossible. As is worldwide domination. The majors still control Top Forty, but it means less than it ever has in its history. The majors fight for slots in the Spotify Top 50, but some of those acts are one hit wonders. Furthermore, as detailed by "Billboard," the majors can't even break a new act anymore. Acts come from the bottom up, not the top down. The bottom up is the internet, top down is manipulation, the aforesaid radio and TV and...if this were working, we'd have new breakout stars, but we don't.
As for dead tree publicity...it works for acts for the aged, it's irrelevant when it comes to youngsters, who are active consumers. Everything that moves the needle is online. Which is a great miasma of information.
Then again, "Rich Men of North Richmond" breaks the paradigm, it is unique. Because it was grown by the public and agitated politicians, who pushed the number. Yes, politicians and their news outlet penumbra have more power than terrestrial radio, traditional TV, anything.
Turns out organic is desirable. And if you're organic, you have a chance of being embraced by people who will promote you.
"Rich Men North of Richmond" is not "Try That in a Small Town." Jason Aldean came from Macon, and he didn't even write the song. And the controversy superseded the track. Which shot up and then fell online, which is the only place where you can make any money. Aldean is #10 on this week's Mediabase Country chart, but "Try That in a Small Town" is #32 on the "Billboard" streaming chart. All that terrestrial radio airplay? The label ain't making a dime. The publisher is. And maybe Aldean's image is being burnished. But when it comes down to money, Oliver Anthony trumps Aldean, period. Because Anthony's consumption figures are much higher.
Mania might get you noticed, but it's the music that sustains you. Which is why Morgan Wallen continues to dominate the charts, with no stunts employed. Wallen can be loved by everybody, it's conventional song structure, with verses and choruses, the basic building blocks. Which are rarely the key elements in the Spotify Top 50, and if they're present the tracks are rarely believable, barely credible.
Something is happening here.
Don't forget, although distributed by a major, Big Loud, Wallen's label, is an independent. Next time will the independent do it themselves?
Do you sell your soul to the company man?
That's what we've been told to do for decades. To take the money. Forget the audience perception. Sell your songs, better to have the cash than the control.
Maybe that's all wrong.
Maybe radio is no longer all powerful.
Maybe Oliver Anthony is a harbinger of what's to come.
But maybe not.
But one thing is for sure, terrestrial radio is circling the drain when it comes to breaking acts. It's never meant less. Maybe you want it to be part of your marketing campaign, but if you're making it number one, you're missing the target.
--
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
--
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Monday, 28 August 2023
Golden Voices
Trailer: https://tinyurl.com/mvs7bvua
I recommend this movie. You can watch it sans ads on Amazon Prime, or for free, with ads, on Tubi and the Roku Channel, or completely free with no ads on the library outlet, Kanopy. And, if you ever want to know if and where you can stream something, please go to justwatch.com - it's a great resource, especially when my friends in Australia and the U.K. recommend shows and it turns out they're unavailable for streaming in the U.S.
I can't tell you how I found out about "Golden Voices," but you do know that my standard is 80%+ on the critics' meter on Rotten Tomatoes. I will watch something in the high seventies, but below that... The "New York Times" recommended a fascinating film last week, "Paradise." Bottom line, you cash in future years of your life for a benefit today, a great concept. But it's only got a 55% critics' rating and I'm afraid to dive in, the last time the "Times" recommended a sub-80% movie and I took the time to watch it I ultimately wanted my two hours back. In other words, the "Times" recommendations have a credibility issue with me. But "Golden Voices" has a 100% RT critics' score, and an 80% audience score. Beware of the audience score, it oftentimes is completely whacked. Like on that series "The Offer," you know, the one about the making of "The Godfather." It's got a 95% audience score, but only a 57% critics' score. People have been imploring me to watch this series to this day. But the truth is it's wildly inaccurate, it got some of the worst reviews of all time, and that's not how I want to use my time. Call me a highbrow, I'll own it. Movies are not entertainment for me, they're a true life experience, one that takes me away from everyday life and touches my heart. I want to bond with the flick, I want to feel like I'm the only one watching. I want to think about it when it's over. And that's why I won't go to see the superhero movies... Meanwhile, am I the only one who didn't read comic books growing up? I just didn't get it. There was too much left out, and all that writing over pictures? I'd rather read a book.
So...
The key to great entertainment is emotion. I'm not talking about singing with melisma, showing off, I'm talking about connecting with me emotionally. That was a feature of the dark music of the past, but it's hard to find in hit music today. Most stuff is obvious, it's about partying, being a member of the club...and I don't ever want to be a member of that club. I go to the show to see the act, not to hang with my friends.
Anyway, the main character in "Golden Voices" is a highbrow, he reveres Fellini.
Well, let me go back a chapter. What you've got here is two Russian immigrants to Israel just after the fall of Communism. They were famous film dubbers in Russia, but what are they going to do for work in Israel?
Displacement. I've been there. You're in a new town, a new situation, it can be lonely, depressing, you dig down deep and carry on into the wilderness, try to sustain your optimism, but it is very hard.
And then you've got love.
Your hopes and dreams... You know, your inner life. Don't tell me yours and I won't tell you mine. It's too hard to talk about. But when we see it on the screen it feels so good. Love, hope, connection... Relationships are the basic building block of humanity. It's in our DNA. We fantasize, we're desirous, and are our hopes dashed or fulfilled? We may be a desirable star in our own minds, but in the eyes of our crush?
So "Golden Voices" probably won't grip you from the very beginning, it's not that it's slow, it's just that it's not whiz-bang, which so many people expect from a film these days. And then the story evolves, the plot interweaves and you're right there with the characters, contemplating your choices, your life.
Yes, this is an Israeli film. With subtitles. I hope that doesn't turn you off. But it's not a heavy drama, it's not a slog, at times it's funny...it's akin to regular life. It demands very little of you, don't see viewing it as an assignment or a sentence...
I've already told you too much.
But if you're a foreign film fan, from back before the days of streaming, when you used to go to the art house, this is the kind of film you saw, that generated word of mouth. Now, with so much in the marketplace it's nearly impossible to gain notice.
So, if you're posting on TikTok, if you have no time to slow down, don't even bother. But if you can stop for an hour and a half... It's this downtime that inspires you. That's why vacations are critical. Your mind is cleared, it's open to new things...
I don't tell you about every series and film I watch. This is not a list service. I don't need you to judge me based on my level of consumption, never mind the quality of what I watch, but... It's hard for most people to find good stuff to watch. And everything I've watched in the last couple of weeks is not as good as "Golden Voices," so I figured I'd hip you to it. I watched three other movies in the past couple of days, I'd prefer to watch series, but we've already viewed so many of the greats, and this is the only one I can whole-heartedly recommend, even though the others were all over 80% on Rotten Tomatoes.
This is the type of movie that you'll want to talk about with others. Then again, part of the stimulation is personal. I really questioned one of the basic tenets of my life after viewing "Golden Voices." I don't want to overhype it, it's a small movie, but I do recommend it.
I recommend this movie. You can watch it sans ads on Amazon Prime, or for free, with ads, on Tubi and the Roku Channel, or completely free with no ads on the library outlet, Kanopy. And, if you ever want to know if and where you can stream something, please go to justwatch.com - it's a great resource, especially when my friends in Australia and the U.K. recommend shows and it turns out they're unavailable for streaming in the U.S.
I can't tell you how I found out about "Golden Voices," but you do know that my standard is 80%+ on the critics' meter on Rotten Tomatoes. I will watch something in the high seventies, but below that... The "New York Times" recommended a fascinating film last week, "Paradise." Bottom line, you cash in future years of your life for a benefit today, a great concept. But it's only got a 55% critics' rating and I'm afraid to dive in, the last time the "Times" recommended a sub-80% movie and I took the time to watch it I ultimately wanted my two hours back. In other words, the "Times" recommendations have a credibility issue with me. But "Golden Voices" has a 100% RT critics' score, and an 80% audience score. Beware of the audience score, it oftentimes is completely whacked. Like on that series "The Offer," you know, the one about the making of "The Godfather." It's got a 95% audience score, but only a 57% critics' score. People have been imploring me to watch this series to this day. But the truth is it's wildly inaccurate, it got some of the worst reviews of all time, and that's not how I want to use my time. Call me a highbrow, I'll own it. Movies are not entertainment for me, they're a true life experience, one that takes me away from everyday life and touches my heart. I want to bond with the flick, I want to feel like I'm the only one watching. I want to think about it when it's over. And that's why I won't go to see the superhero movies... Meanwhile, am I the only one who didn't read comic books growing up? I just didn't get it. There was too much left out, and all that writing over pictures? I'd rather read a book.
So...
The key to great entertainment is emotion. I'm not talking about singing with melisma, showing off, I'm talking about connecting with me emotionally. That was a feature of the dark music of the past, but it's hard to find in hit music today. Most stuff is obvious, it's about partying, being a member of the club...and I don't ever want to be a member of that club. I go to the show to see the act, not to hang with my friends.
Anyway, the main character in "Golden Voices" is a highbrow, he reveres Fellini.
Well, let me go back a chapter. What you've got here is two Russian immigrants to Israel just after the fall of Communism. They were famous film dubbers in Russia, but what are they going to do for work in Israel?
Displacement. I've been there. You're in a new town, a new situation, it can be lonely, depressing, you dig down deep and carry on into the wilderness, try to sustain your optimism, but it is very hard.
And then you've got love.
Your hopes and dreams... You know, your inner life. Don't tell me yours and I won't tell you mine. It's too hard to talk about. But when we see it on the screen it feels so good. Love, hope, connection... Relationships are the basic building block of humanity. It's in our DNA. We fantasize, we're desirous, and are our hopes dashed or fulfilled? We may be a desirable star in our own minds, but in the eyes of our crush?
So "Golden Voices" probably won't grip you from the very beginning, it's not that it's slow, it's just that it's not whiz-bang, which so many people expect from a film these days. And then the story evolves, the plot interweaves and you're right there with the characters, contemplating your choices, your life.
Yes, this is an Israeli film. With subtitles. I hope that doesn't turn you off. But it's not a heavy drama, it's not a slog, at times it's funny...it's akin to regular life. It demands very little of you, don't see viewing it as an assignment or a sentence...
I've already told you too much.
But if you're a foreign film fan, from back before the days of streaming, when you used to go to the art house, this is the kind of film you saw, that generated word of mouth. Now, with so much in the marketplace it's nearly impossible to gain notice.
So, if you're posting on TikTok, if you have no time to slow down, don't even bother. But if you can stop for an hour and a half... It's this downtime that inspires you. That's why vacations are critical. Your mind is cleared, it's open to new things...
I don't tell you about every series and film I watch. This is not a list service. I don't need you to judge me based on my level of consumption, never mind the quality of what I watch, but... It's hard for most people to find good stuff to watch. And everything I've watched in the last couple of weeks is not as good as "Golden Voices," so I figured I'd hip you to it. I watched three other movies in the past couple of days, I'd prefer to watch series, but we've already viewed so many of the greats, and this is the only one I can whole-heartedly recommend, even though the others were all over 80% on Rotten Tomatoes.
This is the type of movie that you'll want to talk about with others. Then again, part of the stimulation is personal. I really questioned one of the basic tenets of my life after viewing "Golden Voices." I don't want to overhype it, it's a small movie, but I do recommend it.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
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Summer of '72 Playlist
Spotify playlist: https://tinyurl.com/hzdja2h6
"Casino Boogie"
EXILE ON MAIN STREET
The Rolling Stones
"Superwoman"
MUSIC OF MY MIND
Stevie Wonder
"Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters"
HONKY CHATEAU
Elton John
"School's Out"
SCHOOL'S OUT
Alice Cooper
"Take It Easy"
EAGLES
Eagles
"Thick as a Brick"
THICK AS A BRICK
Jethro Tull
"The Night the Carousel Burned Down"
SOMETHING/ANYTHING
Todd Rundgren
"Hold Your Head Up"
ALL TOGETHER NOW
Argent
"Shaft"
SHAFT
Isaac Hayes
"From the Beginning"
TRILOGY
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
"Moonage Daydream"
THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS
David Bowie
"Telegram Sam"
THE SLIDER
T. Rex
"If There Is Something"
ROXY MUSIC
Roxy Music
"Gudbuy T'Jane"
SLAYED?
Slade
"True Blue"
NEVER A DULL MOMENT
Rod Stewart
"Johnny's Garden"
MANASSAS
Stephen Stills
--
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
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If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
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"Casino Boogie"
EXILE ON MAIN STREET
The Rolling Stones
"Superwoman"
MUSIC OF MY MIND
Stevie Wonder
"Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters"
HONKY CHATEAU
Elton John
"School's Out"
SCHOOL'S OUT
Alice Cooper
"Take It Easy"
EAGLES
Eagles
"Thick as a Brick"
THICK AS A BRICK
Jethro Tull
"The Night the Carousel Burned Down"
SOMETHING/ANYTHING
Todd Rundgren
"Hold Your Head Up"
ALL TOGETHER NOW
Argent
"Shaft"
SHAFT
Isaac Hayes
"From the Beginning"
TRILOGY
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
"Moonage Daydream"
THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS
David Bowie
"Telegram Sam"
THE SLIDER
T. Rex
"If There Is Something"
ROXY MUSIC
Roxy Music
"Gudbuy T'Jane"
SLAYED?
Slade
"True Blue"
NEVER A DULL MOMENT
Rod Stewart
"Johnny's Garden"
MANASSAS
Stephen Stills
--
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
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Sunday, 27 August 2023
The Hipgnosis Movie
"Squaring the Circle (The story of Hipgnosis)": https://tinyurl.com/3rr5rvuz
It was a moment in time. But we thought it would last forever.
The oldsters, the denizens of the sixties, crapped on the seventies. It was too obvious, too overblown, some sunny element had been sacrificed, it was no longer a lark, but business, and what exactly was prog rock anyway, didn't we abhor those who were classically trained?
And then disco came along and killed it all. Well, there was corporate rock before that. Which was akin to the hair band era of the late eighties, but less cynical. But the entire enterprise collapsed, the music business was in the doldrums, only to be saved by MTV and a wave of young English bands not beholden to what had come before.
And now everybody is getting older. Even the seventies are fading in the rearview mirror. Nirvana and Pearl Jam came along to kill the hair bands, and then hip-hop powered through, the internet came along and it hasn't been the same since.
The feeling of isolation, doing it with no one watching, that's palpable in the beginning of this film. Today as soon as you create, you post, maybe even hype. You feel you're part of something, that if you're lucky you could go viral. But there was no virality in the pre-internet era. Very few could play. And they were on the road less taken. But you could afford to do that back then. Today America is immobilized, people don't have enough money to move. But relocating was a feature of the seventies. You packed up and drove to another city, another state, to live another life, to learn, to leave the past behind. Now you can never leave the past behind, it follows you your whole life.
And life is very hard financially. The best and the brightest don't become artists, because they know how cruel capitalism is, and they don't want to be left without. I remember someone at the Howard Stern Show taking a year off to bicycle around the world. Howard couldn't fathom it, what about his career? Well, back in the seventies we weren't worried about careers. We were living in the moment. And going to the show was a regular activity, after all the tickets weren't even ten bucks, the hardest part was getting one. And bands were still rampant. You got a gang together to conquer the world. That's rare these days because it's economically unfeasible. Even if you make it you've got to split the money too many ways. Believe me, it is different now. Hell, in an electronic world so much of the music is electronic, it doesn't even resemble the music of the past.
So everything you know about the music business was codified in the seventies. That's when Peter Grant flipped the live script, so that the act got ninety percent and the promoter only a sliver. Hell, everybody knew the show was playing, advertising was unnecessary. Today you constantly hear about acts that have already played that you missed, that you didn't even hear about.
If you're a boomer, if you were conscious in the seventies, if you were a music fan, addicted to the record store, you'll know every song in this movie. The album covers. This is your DNA. The school I went to when I was supposedly in college and law school. The music was art, it was vital, it was everything.
And it channeled the culture so well that it threw off untold amounts of currency. Bands were rich. As rich as anybody in the world. Taxes were high, there were no billionaires, to be a rock star was to be unfettered, to be free, with millions waiting for your words.
Sure, there was a commercial business. Kind of like today. But that was on AM radio. Some tracks could cross over to the Top Forty, but oftentimes albums had no singles, and it didn't matter.
You went to the record store, purchased your disc, came home, ripped off the shrink-wrap, dropped the needle and listened. You didn't do anything else, you only listened. As you studied the album cover, memorized the album cover. We knew who Hipgnosis was, they did all the innovative sleeves!
They weren't the only ones, but the Hipgnosis covers were statements unto themselves. They weren't dashed off, you could see the thought behind them. And the only thing you wanted to do was to get closer. I was talking to a friend with a record company today who lamented he couldn't get good help, couldn't even get his millennial employees to go to the gig. In the seventies you couldn't even get a job at Tower Records, never mind a record company. If you worked at a record company you were part of the retinue, royalty, you were where the essence was created, where it all lived, you were where we all wanted to be.
This was not tech. Tech is tools. You deliver the content on social media. The smartphone is inert, you take the journey. Back in the seventies the artists took the journey and we marveled. We revered the art itself. Sure, we studied the equipment, the guitars, the Fenders, Gibsons and Martins, and the Marshall and Hiwatt amplifiers and the Neve consoles and...those were the tools and the music was the product. Everything was in service to the music. And it was hard to play and hard to sustain. You had to have the chops, the vision and someone who believed in you. Everybody wrote their own songs, because the music was direct from them to us, unfettered. And selling out was anathema, your credibility was everything. And Hipgnosis did not make the music, but the covers, the artwork, was created with the same intentions. If it didn't feel right, if it wasn't art, Storm wasn't interested. He walked from "Venus and Mars" because he didn't like McCartney's concept, there just wasn't enough there, he left it to Po.
The concept. That's the essence of art. Always. It started in the modern era with abstract expressionism, and then we had the minimalists. Maybe we need to hearken back to Picasso, at the turn of the century. You see the idea is everything, but sans execution it's nothing. Prog rock was an idea. Punk was an idea. What have we got today? A bunch of me-too. When was the last time you were amazed, wondered how someone came up with something?
So they attribute the breakthrough to the Nice album "Elegy." With the live version of "America" we heard on FM radio. Nice couldn't break through because the vocals were substandard. So Keith Emerson decamped and formed ELP with Greg Lake and Carl Palmer.
And "Atom Heart Mother," when most people still had no idea who Pink Floyd were. The cow on the cover. It's meaningless! Intentionally. But it became iconic because of the success of the album.
"Band on the Run"... The video of the photo shoot is a window into what once was. When everybody was still young and it was all the aforementioned lark. People with no CV succeeded and then blew all their money pushing the envelope, constantly. Not only the acts, but Hipgnosis too.
And there's footage of the Wings Over America tour. The trucks were famous, they were featured in "People." And the video of fans running onto the field. He was not yet Sir Paul, he was a guy who created a breakthrough LP that was all over the airwaves and people had to go to experience it. Nostalgia was a minor factor. Today it's all nostalgia.
So the issues of talking heads and licensing are nonexistent when you play on this level. The members of Pink Floyd, Graham Gouldman of 10cc, Peter Gabriel, McCartney, they're all testifying, as to their relationship with Hipgnosis and how the album covers came to be. And we get a window into Peter Grant. You couldn't speak to his acts directly, you had to go through him. Everything was still street, you can't learn how to be Peter Grant in music college. And Grant's instincts and creativity... Yes, not only the acts were inventing it as they went along, but so were the managers, the record companies, the promoters...
And we all wanted in.
These movies cost too much to make, so they open them theatrically for reviews, hoping to get better streaming licensing deals. But the audience for these flicks doesn't go to the theatre. And by time the films hit the flat screen, the audience has moved on and forgotten about them.
You can rent "Squaring the Circle" for $5.99, but no one does that, almost no one anyway. I wish the hype coincided with streaming availability, but it does not.
The business still hasn't adjusted to the present. It's the opposite of the seventies, everyone can play and it's nearly impossible to break through to an audience. Millions of tracks on Spotify have never been listened to even once. So, in the world of creation today, always put money second, like the techies. Gain an audience, then there are a ton of ways to monetize. Monetize first and you're screwed. Building an audience behind a paywall? Nearly impossible.
So, can you live without seeing "Squaring the Circle"?
Absolutely. But if you lived through the era, you'll be brought back, your life will seem meaningful, you'll be reminded how much it counted, and that they call it classic rock for a reason.
If you're a young 'un... "Squaring the Circle" is like the Dead Sea Scrolls. An artifact of a past era that will utterly amaze those who were not there originally. I'm glad it's documented, because history is slipping through our fingers as I write this. At least there starts to be footage in the seventies, unlike so much of the sixties. But how much art from the past has been lost to the sands of time because documentation was so expensive or impossible, everybody did not have a 4k video camera in their pocket. I'd like to go back, but I can't.
But you can go back to when dinosaurs roamed the earth in the seventies. And at this point, just like little kids know the name of all the reptiles, everybody knows almost all of the work in this movie. "Dinosaur" is no longer a pejorative when it comes to music. All the young people wish they were there.
It was a moment in time. But we thought it would last forever.
The oldsters, the denizens of the sixties, crapped on the seventies. It was too obvious, too overblown, some sunny element had been sacrificed, it was no longer a lark, but business, and what exactly was prog rock anyway, didn't we abhor those who were classically trained?
And then disco came along and killed it all. Well, there was corporate rock before that. Which was akin to the hair band era of the late eighties, but less cynical. But the entire enterprise collapsed, the music business was in the doldrums, only to be saved by MTV and a wave of young English bands not beholden to what had come before.
And now everybody is getting older. Even the seventies are fading in the rearview mirror. Nirvana and Pearl Jam came along to kill the hair bands, and then hip-hop powered through, the internet came along and it hasn't been the same since.
The feeling of isolation, doing it with no one watching, that's palpable in the beginning of this film. Today as soon as you create, you post, maybe even hype. You feel you're part of something, that if you're lucky you could go viral. But there was no virality in the pre-internet era. Very few could play. And they were on the road less taken. But you could afford to do that back then. Today America is immobilized, people don't have enough money to move. But relocating was a feature of the seventies. You packed up and drove to another city, another state, to live another life, to learn, to leave the past behind. Now you can never leave the past behind, it follows you your whole life.
And life is very hard financially. The best and the brightest don't become artists, because they know how cruel capitalism is, and they don't want to be left without. I remember someone at the Howard Stern Show taking a year off to bicycle around the world. Howard couldn't fathom it, what about his career? Well, back in the seventies we weren't worried about careers. We were living in the moment. And going to the show was a regular activity, after all the tickets weren't even ten bucks, the hardest part was getting one. And bands were still rampant. You got a gang together to conquer the world. That's rare these days because it's economically unfeasible. Even if you make it you've got to split the money too many ways. Believe me, it is different now. Hell, in an electronic world so much of the music is electronic, it doesn't even resemble the music of the past.
So everything you know about the music business was codified in the seventies. That's when Peter Grant flipped the live script, so that the act got ninety percent and the promoter only a sliver. Hell, everybody knew the show was playing, advertising was unnecessary. Today you constantly hear about acts that have already played that you missed, that you didn't even hear about.
If you're a boomer, if you were conscious in the seventies, if you were a music fan, addicted to the record store, you'll know every song in this movie. The album covers. This is your DNA. The school I went to when I was supposedly in college and law school. The music was art, it was vital, it was everything.
And it channeled the culture so well that it threw off untold amounts of currency. Bands were rich. As rich as anybody in the world. Taxes were high, there were no billionaires, to be a rock star was to be unfettered, to be free, with millions waiting for your words.
Sure, there was a commercial business. Kind of like today. But that was on AM radio. Some tracks could cross over to the Top Forty, but oftentimes albums had no singles, and it didn't matter.
You went to the record store, purchased your disc, came home, ripped off the shrink-wrap, dropped the needle and listened. You didn't do anything else, you only listened. As you studied the album cover, memorized the album cover. We knew who Hipgnosis was, they did all the innovative sleeves!
They weren't the only ones, but the Hipgnosis covers were statements unto themselves. They weren't dashed off, you could see the thought behind them. And the only thing you wanted to do was to get closer. I was talking to a friend with a record company today who lamented he couldn't get good help, couldn't even get his millennial employees to go to the gig. In the seventies you couldn't even get a job at Tower Records, never mind a record company. If you worked at a record company you were part of the retinue, royalty, you were where the essence was created, where it all lived, you were where we all wanted to be.
This was not tech. Tech is tools. You deliver the content on social media. The smartphone is inert, you take the journey. Back in the seventies the artists took the journey and we marveled. We revered the art itself. Sure, we studied the equipment, the guitars, the Fenders, Gibsons and Martins, and the Marshall and Hiwatt amplifiers and the Neve consoles and...those were the tools and the music was the product. Everything was in service to the music. And it was hard to play and hard to sustain. You had to have the chops, the vision and someone who believed in you. Everybody wrote their own songs, because the music was direct from them to us, unfettered. And selling out was anathema, your credibility was everything. And Hipgnosis did not make the music, but the covers, the artwork, was created with the same intentions. If it didn't feel right, if it wasn't art, Storm wasn't interested. He walked from "Venus and Mars" because he didn't like McCartney's concept, there just wasn't enough there, he left it to Po.
The concept. That's the essence of art. Always. It started in the modern era with abstract expressionism, and then we had the minimalists. Maybe we need to hearken back to Picasso, at the turn of the century. You see the idea is everything, but sans execution it's nothing. Prog rock was an idea. Punk was an idea. What have we got today? A bunch of me-too. When was the last time you were amazed, wondered how someone came up with something?
So they attribute the breakthrough to the Nice album "Elegy." With the live version of "America" we heard on FM radio. Nice couldn't break through because the vocals were substandard. So Keith Emerson decamped and formed ELP with Greg Lake and Carl Palmer.
And "Atom Heart Mother," when most people still had no idea who Pink Floyd were. The cow on the cover. It's meaningless! Intentionally. But it became iconic because of the success of the album.
"Band on the Run"... The video of the photo shoot is a window into what once was. When everybody was still young and it was all the aforementioned lark. People with no CV succeeded and then blew all their money pushing the envelope, constantly. Not only the acts, but Hipgnosis too.
And there's footage of the Wings Over America tour. The trucks were famous, they were featured in "People." And the video of fans running onto the field. He was not yet Sir Paul, he was a guy who created a breakthrough LP that was all over the airwaves and people had to go to experience it. Nostalgia was a minor factor. Today it's all nostalgia.
So the issues of talking heads and licensing are nonexistent when you play on this level. The members of Pink Floyd, Graham Gouldman of 10cc, Peter Gabriel, McCartney, they're all testifying, as to their relationship with Hipgnosis and how the album covers came to be. And we get a window into Peter Grant. You couldn't speak to his acts directly, you had to go through him. Everything was still street, you can't learn how to be Peter Grant in music college. And Grant's instincts and creativity... Yes, not only the acts were inventing it as they went along, but so were the managers, the record companies, the promoters...
And we all wanted in.
These movies cost too much to make, so they open them theatrically for reviews, hoping to get better streaming licensing deals. But the audience for these flicks doesn't go to the theatre. And by time the films hit the flat screen, the audience has moved on and forgotten about them.
You can rent "Squaring the Circle" for $5.99, but no one does that, almost no one anyway. I wish the hype coincided with streaming availability, but it does not.
The business still hasn't adjusted to the present. It's the opposite of the seventies, everyone can play and it's nearly impossible to break through to an audience. Millions of tracks on Spotify have never been listened to even once. So, in the world of creation today, always put money second, like the techies. Gain an audience, then there are a ton of ways to monetize. Monetize first and you're screwed. Building an audience behind a paywall? Nearly impossible.
So, can you live without seeing "Squaring the Circle"?
Absolutely. But if you lived through the era, you'll be brought back, your life will seem meaningful, you'll be reminded how much it counted, and that they call it classic rock for a reason.
If you're a young 'un... "Squaring the Circle" is like the Dead Sea Scrolls. An artifact of a past era that will utterly amaze those who were not there originally. I'm glad it's documented, because history is slipping through our fingers as I write this. At least there starts to be footage in the seventies, unlike so much of the sixties. But how much art from the past has been lost to the sands of time because documentation was so expensive or impossible, everybody did not have a 4k video camera in their pocket. I'd like to go back, but I can't.
But you can go back to when dinosaurs roamed the earth in the seventies. And at this point, just like little kids know the name of all the reptiles, everybody knows almost all of the work in this movie. "Dinosaur" is no longer a pejorative when it comes to music. All the young people wish they were there.
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