More Obscure 2026 Deaths-SiriusXM This Week

NOTE: FACTION TALK IS NOW ON CHANNEL 137 So, tune in Saturday September 12th to Faction Talk, channel 137, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West. If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app. Search: Lefsetz -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

Choosin' Texas

https://open.spotify.com/track/65DbTqJKhbwqYbZ1Okr0rc?si=a863236396db4ab5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUsrYVxrDwI You can sing along to it, it's got melody and a catchy chorus, what a concept! Meanwhile, most of the rest of today's "hits" are filled with 808s and other synthesized instruments and chord changes can be rare, sometimes there is only one chord! But "Choosin' Texas" has far outstripped them in popularity. It is the only track that has risen above, that is a true national (international!) hit, that seemingly everybody is aware of. That is not the case with the rest of the Spotify Top 50. The songs may have chart numbers, but most people have never heard of them, never mind actually heard them, contrary to the hype in the media and inside business publications. It's not solely an old fart thing. Most people are unaware of most "hits" today, there's just too much in the channel. But "Choosin' Texas" has risen above. Now there's been a ton of focus on the lyrics...probably because they're the easiest thing to write about, but really, "Choosin' Texas" is successful because of the underlying music. Yes, it's a good story, and "Texas" is a hook, but this is not revolutionary, not twenty one weeks at number one on the Hot 100, second only to Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You" in longevity. This track has not been ghettoized, it's not solely a country phenomenon, it's a worldwide phenomenon! How can this be? Now when Tom Petty played the Fonda for a week, he labeled today's country music "the rock music of the seventies." And that's true in most cases. This ain't the twang of the country western songs of yore, oftentimes sans a fiddle or a steel guitar or banjo and a vocal affect, these modern country songs are closer to classic hits than the rest of the stuff purveyed today. When did the music business become too hip for the room? Well, the last big revolution was hip-hop, which started in the eighties but really flourished in the nineties and early 2000s. Rap was a reaction to stale rock. It was the sound of the street. It contained the truth rock music had long lost. And rap was more than music, hip-hop was a culture, well delineated in the media. But this all started decades ago. Today? Sure, we've got Kendrick, but mainstream rap ain't much different from the rock of the late eighties, formulaic, made for a market. It's not real, it's a cartoon. The lyrics are fantasies littered with braggadocio. There's no vulnerability evidenced, unlike in "Choosin' Texas," wherein the Tennessee woman loses the man to a denizen of Texas. That people can relate to. Being on the losing end. And how refreshing in our everybody's a winner culture, where it's all about putting up a good front. But it's not only hip-hop, did you listen to the new Miley record, "Bass Persuades"? It's the antithesis of "Choosin' Texas," filled with modern, electric sounds, a whispered vocal at first. "Bass Persuades" is anything but a one listen smash, but we've been subjected to Miley hype for months now, how she switched labels... Who exactly is "Bass Persuades" made for? Well, maybe it works in dance clubs. Or maybe snippets can be utilized on TikTok, but most people are never going to cotton to this track, but "Choosin' Texas"... "Choosin' Texas" was not foisted upon the public, the public embraced it! And it's formulaic in the old way, with the aforementioned melody and catchy chorus, what a relief. People want to be involved in songs, they want to own them, and the best way to achieve that is by making a record that not only can they comprehend, but that they can sing along to... Now country has traditionally been seen as a backwater, made for only part of the population. And at this late date, it's seen as part of the red South, and it's a genre that is still controlled by country radio, even though there's so much great music that doesn't fit the format, the foremost exponent being Jason Isbell... But the most respected, most award-winning act in country today is Chris Stapleton, and change the vocal just a touch and you find someone who is closer to Gov't Mule than what dominates the country hit parade. And Stapleton plays stadiums. Begging the question... Despite all the pooh-poohing from the intelligentsia, is country the dominant format today, is it country that contains the heartbeat of America? It's a stealth attack, "Choosin' Texas" has been embraced by the left as well as the right, the media is championing it and... Can you relate to "Bass Persuades"? I certainly can't. And relatability is key. So the question is why we don't have more records like this. Why do the labels keep foisting this narrowcasted junk upon us. Niche product with a sliver of very active fans which most people will never listen to. Adele sold more CDs than anybody, but no one in America signed another Adele. But Olivia Dean inhabits the soulful soft lane that is not that far off from Adele's, yet she had to come from England. People heard Olivia Dean and immediately embraced her and her music. Sure, "Man I Need" was all over TikTok, but snippets of one song do not lead to a sold out arena tour...no, the general public embraced Dean, if for no other reason than her music is LISTENABLE! Things go better with it. You can put on the Olivia Dean album and relax, it sets a mood. Most of the other stuff, especially the metal, if you're not a hipster or you're not angry it's not for you. So why can't there be more Ella Langleys and "Choosin Texas"-like songs? This is not Kraftwerk, this is not sui generis, it's positively mainstream. But the true mainstream pop hit has become a lost art. This is beyond cult, this is beyond Taylor Swift, who went pop to broaden her audience but then country ascended and pop descended. "Choosin' Texas" is for everyone. And that's the point. -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

The Implant

1 Five plus hours later... My mother died because she didn't go to the doctor. She had some ugly scab/rash on her leg and completely ignored it. This all happened in Connecticut, but when she flew out to California my sister insisted she see the doctor and she ended up in the hospital for a couple of days and then they sent her to a rehab center where she died of septic shock. But she was strong, she believed she could beat anything. She literally thought she could will my father to beat cancer. She dragged him to L.A., he even had to go to the hospital here, and when he got home he died in a week. So we never went to the doctor growing up, other than for checkups, unless we were bleeding profusely. Even if we were diagnosed with something, my mother told us to get out of bed and go to school, to stop being a lazy bum, literally. So I don't know how to go to the doctor. What's worth the effort. And this has gotten me into trouble, serious trouble, but I've gotten better over the past couple of decades and... I'm brushing my teeth ten days ago and I feel a tickle, with a bit of pain. Kind of like blowing air on an open wound. Well, this was new. But this tooth... I could buy a car for what I've invested in it. And just two months ago I had a bit of pain and the dentist adjusted it and...he told me it would take three weeks for the muscles to calm down, and then I'd know...and he'd know, because if it didn't work, I'd come back. BUT IT DID WORK! Ah, so satisfying. But now I have a completely different symptom, this tickle pain. So what the hell is going on here? I whip out the stimulator, the Waterpik, and I feel the pain, but I figure maybe there's something lodged inside the gum, who knows, and with a bit of work I can fix the situation. Now it got a bit better, but then... Let's just say it never went away. I started to freak out before Labor Day...because what if it got bad over the holiday? And the dentist does not work on Friday. And when in the hell am I going to schedule this anyway, I'm booked so solid, needing to go to three eye appointments a week for three weeks for my macular degeneration. Now my heart doctor is all about the teeth, saying a problem there can lead to a heart attack. And there was that story back in May, about that Haitian man rounded up by ICE who died of a tooth infection in custody. So it does happen. And one of the last things you do before going to sleep is brush your teeth. And I feel the pain and my anxiety goes sky high. One night I futzed with it, with the Waterpik, and I got so wound up I couldn't fall asleep for hours. So... I think I've got it under control, it's not that bad, I can cope. And then Tuesday night I'm brushing and I hit the spot and I jump! This thing ain't going away. But it's only when I brush there... So I'm lying on the couch, trying to read a book, but I can't, because I'm wrestling with my tooth...what is it, should I address it? And then I think of OCD therapy... What would the reasonable person do, would they get it checked out? I wasn't sure what the reasonable person would do and I'm thinking about it and the OCD therapist says if it's unclear, take action right away. And right then and there I decide I will do so. But I can't go to the dentist on Wednesday, I've got an eye appointment and then a podcast in Malibu... And Thursday I've got a shrink appointment and then an SXM pre-tape, but I tell myself, if I have to cancel my shrink appointment I will, it will be within twenty four hours so I won't have to pay for it. As for the pre-tape...the engineer is going out of town for weddings two weekends in a row, and when will we find time to do this pre-tape if not Thursday, I'm booked solid next week. So I can barely sleep thinking about if I can get an appointment, and when it will be. And if I push it to next week, then they'll think the problem is not that bad, they won't take me seriously. So I get up in the morning and call and... They can see me at two p.m. on Thursday. Well, that's going to be really tight. Can they do it a bit later? No, take it or leave it. I told them I'd take it, I'd be there. And I got the engineer to start fifteen minutes earlier today and... I was anxious. Because how bad was the pain this morning when I brushed? Not that bad. And I'm so uptight about going back for a problem. I returned so many vinyl records that they told me not to shop at one store anymore. Believe me, they were defective. People's love for vinyl? God, no surface noise, no skips, no warps...digital is fantastic! And I'm getting more and more uptight about taking up the dentist's time. But I'm thinking of the OCD therapist's advice. For social anxiety he says to go to a restaurant, order a glass of water and then leave without ordering anything else. It's all about exposures. So it's not like I've been back to the dentist a zillion times, if there's no problem now... 2 So the dentist comes back from lunch and he's walking past my room and he says ROBERT! The last time he called me "the philosopher," and when I ran into him in the loo that day on my way out, he insisted we go to lunch. I was going out of town for three weeks, but how was this going to work? How would I schedule it? And what if we went for a meal and we ran out of things to say? But, if I never reached out for lunch he might hold it against me. Now dentistry is different from how it used to be. In that you rarely see the dentist. Unless you complain about pain to the hygienist, you don't see the doctor until you get x-rays, which could be every other year. The dentist is the Grand Poobah. And I'm so anxious about taking up this guy's time, but he comes in, sits down, and we B.S. for twenty minutes! This is the most expensive dentist in the world, or so Irving says. I figure he'd be hit and run. But no! We're talking about Israel and immigration and Trump and the homeless... Okay, I'll run with this. And then, all of a sudden, he jumps up, says he's got to go to work! And he leaves the room, but comes back less than a minute later, the other patient doesn't need him, so he stands there and almost as an aside asks me..."So, what are you here for?" And I'm telling him and I realize I've been so distracted that I'm not conveying this story well and he gets in my mouth, pokes around and says he finds nothing. But then I tell him exactly where I feel the pain and he pokes there and I do feel it but he says he doesn't see anything. He tells me to stop brushing there! That he can't see a problem. Now this is my worst nightmare, that I wasn't justified in coming in, I was wasting his time. But we did have a good talk, but I was saying... I was worried about an infection, that's what happened with two other teeth. And I'm so old, and I'm so reluctant to go to the doctor, not feeling entitled, I'm gonna get this infection and DIE! He says he doesn't see anything. But then he goes back in and sees a tiny crack. And as we're just about to wrap it up, he says he's going to call in Justin, the periodontist, for a reading. And I love Justin, but now I'm wasting his time too? And Justin comes in and it's like old home week and he looks in my mouth and only sees this tiny crack and then says...we should take a CT scan, to see how low this crack goes, to see if there's any bone loss. He doesn't expect any, but to be sure... And now the cash register is ringing in my head. Used to be you had to go to a special office for a dental CT scan. But now they've got these small machines that fit in an office, and they have one here and one at the root canal guy's office and I don't know if they're de rigueur, if they're everywhere now, but I do know they charge a fortune for the test, they've got to pay for the machine and... In for a penny, in for a pound. I'm gonna do this, I don't believe in saving money on my health. 3 So this Russian woman is the technician. Conversation is not easy. But eventually the test is completed, I get shown to a room, Justin comes in and wakes up the screen and there's a percentage bar, he says the images are being rendered, they'll come right up. And they do. Well...the crack does go pretty far down. And there is a bit of bone loss. And I'm going to need an implant eventually, but I can wait. And as we're discussing how long I can wait, what symptoms might occur to bring me back, the Russian woman weighs in. She's manipulated the image, turned it around, and not only is there more bone loss... There's an infection. Turns out she's a periodontist too! And now I have to schedule implant surgery. When in the hell am I going to do this? I am booked solid, September is nuts! And then Justin says he can do it right now! But before that he brings in the dentist, who is wowed, taken aback, says he missed it, but there it is. But at least he was smart enough to call in Justin for a deeper look. And then they come in with forms on an iPad, they need my credit card to go downstairs and get drugs from the pharmacy, and the bill... I could tell you the amount, but you'll go insane. You can probably get it done for fifty five or sixty cents on the dollar, but this guy went to Harvard and the dentist is a magician, he's saved teeth other dentists said were goners, even the root canal guy thought the dentist couldn't save one tooth. So they're numbing me up and Justin says he may not be able to place the implant. He's going to remove the old tooth, get rid of the infection, but there might not be enough bone left, and if this is the case I'll have to wait another three months after this heals to get the implant post, and then wait another three months after that for a new tooth. So Justin is surprised how deep the crack went. And he's scraping out the infection. He puts this stuff on it that makes it turn white, so he can see all of it, and then I've got to bite down on a piece of cotton for five minutes, which turns into fifteen, and Justin comes back and... He touches my tooth, or what's there now anyway, and I go wild! There's a sharp pain. He can't believe it. Then he assumes the novocaine was metabolized by my body and he's got to shoot me up with more. Which he does, but the pain remains. Then he gives me more and a nerve block. The pain remains. Then he shoots me up with more novocaine. The pain remains. But at this point, I say it's not terrible, maybe I should endure it. But Justin says no, he's got to drill four more times, and he's going to shoot me up exactly where the pain is. How many shots have I gotten? Definitely more than ten. And this happened the last time I had an infection, the endodontist had gone on and on when I had my root canal, how he'd never ever shot someone up with this much stuff. So I'm super anxious, I keep asking Justin, are you sure you got all of the infection? He keeps reassuring me, says it's the bone that's sensitive, and he implants the post and then after a break he packs in cadaver bone, and stem cells, and then he sews it all up and we're done. 4 Except for one final x-ray, which is going to be taken by the Russian. Earlier she seemed reluctant to talk, but now it's almost seven p.m., I thought she'd want to book, but we get deep into conversation. You go straight into dental school from high school. And she had TWELVE YEARS of training! But still, she needs two years of dental school here to get her U.S. license. Now she was born in Moscow, but grew up in Ukraine, but went to dental school in Moscow, because she had a Russian passport and it was much cheaper, four grand a year for tuition, and she's in the U.S. on political asylum, it's all legal, and... So what exactly is it like living in Moscow? Well, it's super-clean. And restaurants are better, unless they're the tippity-top. And there's plenty of nightlife and the subway has no dirt and goes everywhere... It started to sound like a paradise! So I asked her about the downsides... Well, you can't be LGBT, no way. And there are certain books you cannot read, and if the police find one in your home... Well, why would they be searching your home? This turned out to be not so infrequent, whereas in the U.S. there must be a specific reason. Then again, a neighbor could have turned you in. And I'm going deeper into her life, her parents, romance, but ultimately she takes the x-ray and it's PERFECT! Or so they say. 5 Now you might expect me to be in pain and complaining, going through all this, spending all that money, but I'm THRILLED! Because I went to the doctor! Yes, I didn't go right away, but within ten days I made an appointment and stuck to my story and it turned out there was an infection. I'm not gonna say I would have died from it, but who knows? Have I broken the curse, am I no longer my mother's son, can I go to the doctor without an obviously broken bone or blood all over the floor? I HOPE SO! -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

Maggie Rose-This Week's Podcast

Maggie Rose has a new album, "Half Moon." Hers is a story of survival, the big breaks never happening, yet slogging away and building an audience. Listen to her, she could be the new Brandi Carlile. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/maggie-rose/id1316200737?i=1000788833265 https://open.spotify.com/episode/30j3FUgEUJaE7GOPGifpKX?si=74E3nJzyS_uo4X9qrqnJ8A https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/maggie-rose-343584813 https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/52a9a53e-ecbd-4363-902b-d01482e40a1e/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-maggie-rose -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

People's Parties

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/5RI0qk5rSvAJwCwxtDSKKM?si=291040f257754348 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JsVcxopKTE That's a real story you know. You think these artists make this stuff up out of thin air, but you'd be surprised how many songs are inspired by real life. Kinda like "He blew his mind out in a car/He hadn't noticed that the lights had changed"... This was Tara Browne, a Guiness heir. I didn't know this until Bob Cavallo told me Browne's favorite act was the Lovin' Spoonful and they were hired to play Browne's twenty first birthday, during which he was given a Lotus Elan as a present. Paul McCartney was there, Mick Jagger too, although they didn't perform. And then Tara Browne lost his life in a car wreck... And it turns out "People's Parties" was about a very specific party, held by hairdresser Ara Gallant at his New York apartment. Appollonia van Ravenstein, a Dutch model, was the woman who put a lamp shade over her head as she cried... It all had to do with Jack Nicholson and sex, but Jack was not at Saturday night's party... This person celebrates her birthday with a party every year at this time, always in a different location. This time high in the hills above Los Angeles, so high that there was limited parking and you had to give your car to a valet halfway up the hill and take a van up to... The kind of house that you see in movies, the kind you don't think anybody really owns, certainly not anybody you know, but she did...it was an investment property. Now when you're in your twenties and thirties you live to go to parties. That's where the action is. Back in my day the alternative was staying home and looking at the four walls. You had to go out to meet people, make connections, get ahead. That's what everybody is trying to do in L.A., get ahead. It can be tiresome. But one thing about being my age...you're over the hump, you certainly wouldn't turn down an interaction that would pay dividends, but you're no longer on the hunt. You're hanging out, observing. And there's a view from downtown to the beach. The only person I know who had a view this good was Q, but his house was in Bel-Air, and he's no longer here. "All the people at this party, they've got a lot of style" You have to put on your look. Which is never elegant in L.A., it's hip. "They've got stamps of many countries, they've got passport smiles" Most people there probably had a passport, they'd been places, done things, but the guest list was not that exclusive. Assuming you knew this person. But how many people outside L.A. know this person? Not that there are not mass parties elsewhere in the country, but the clientele is different. No one is old, even if their age is. Everybody's got a young and hip attitude. And having gotten inside the velvet rope, no one has airs, no one is acting superior, then again, how many of these people do you actually know? So, we went upstairs where the food was. And I saw Paul and Jerry over my shoulder, a very friendly couple I hadn't seen since the beginning of summer. And I'm loading up my plate with fare and I'm walking out by the pool to talk to them and a woman comes rushing by and knocks over my plate. Why she was in such a hurry, I do not know. But she did stop and apologize, and stunningly my clothing escaped unscathed. But after assessing the mess Paul and Jerry were nowhere to be found. Nor was Felice. Now if a party is small enough and you lose your partner, your bearings, you feel out of place, like people are focusing on you, judging you. It wasn't that bad, but I was feeling unmoored, and then upon reconnecting with Felice she proposed we sit down, which we did, at this tall table with high chairs. And then people came to us. At the beginning of a party you'll talk to anybody you know. Just to feel like you deserve to be there. And the funny thing is a lot of these people you only see out, you don't connect with them at home, may rarely hear from them in e-mail, but when you run into them it's like old home week, and they update you on what they've been up to, both personally and professionally. "Some are friendly, some are cutting, some are watching it from the wings" The people watching was fantastic. Who exactly were these people and why were they there? Felice couldn't get over the four fiftysomething women sitting on a bench at the top of the stairs staring straight forward, not speaking and not moving. What was their story? We postulated. "Some are standing in the center, giving to get something" Everybody's selling. Hyping you on their new project. Introducing you to people, some you've heard of, some you haven't. And then Jeff Ross shows up. At the end of our podcast he insisted we were now friends. And it's like old home week. And then the birthday girl comes along and says Jeff roasted her and I'm talking to Jeff's friend, who tells me about designing the logo for Woodstock '94 and writing a new song with Paul Williams and when we're done I do a little business, I tell him I'd like to do a podcast with Paul Williams. And then Jeff and he disappear. And I breathe a sigh of relief. These people I share intimate moments with, how do I continue when I see them? Especially women. Like I was at Harold's house years back and I got into this long conversation with Fawn Hall. We seemed to be connecting, I mean conversation with me is never light, I get right down to the real nitty-gritty, but what does Fawn Hall want to do with me? So years later, more than five, we're playing rock trivia at Branca's house up in Beverly Park and Ms. Hall is there. I avoid her. What, I'm going to go up to her six or seven years later and say REMEMBER ME? But we had shared that moment. And when the game is over, when we're noshing on food, Fawn comes up to me and says...AREN'T YOU GOING TO SAY HELLO TO ME? I was positively floored. Oh, she remembered. I guess in a world where everybody professes to be a winner, I don't feel like one. What's so special about me, I'm certainly not an Adonis, I'm not rich, I am interested in your story, I do give good conversation, and only at this late date have I realized that makes me special, because everybody else is so narcissistic, selling, and no one wants to reveal their warts, their inadequacies. So Jeff and I are buddies. But are we really? We didn't go to summer camp together. What exactly are we going to talk about? It's good he's moved on, because I'm flummoxed, I don't know what to say next to continue the conversation. And at some point I have to find a bathroom. Now this is a big house, and the facilities are not obvious, and it seems that whenever I do find a WC there's a queue. So I end up downstairs in the theatre, whereupon I run into Howard Paar, who I haven't seen in ages. He ran the O.N. Klub...where you danced to turn of the decade ska (from the seventies to the eighties), and he's there with this woman who used to work at Epic and the last time I saw her was at this same yearly party, prior to lockdown, she was recovering from a divorce. She seemed to have crawled from the wreckage into a brand new car. And we're talking about whether we go out or not. She does, Howard doesn't. Used to be you went out and saw bands. And we're philosophizing about the modern music business and then the bathroom is open and we call it a day and when I finally wend my way back upstairs Felice asks where I've been, that there's got to be a story. And then Jeff reappears. Asks me if I had a good summer. Says he officiated at his nephew's wedding back east. And tells me he's going out on the balcony for a smoke and to come with, he's got a story to tell me. And as he's puffing away, he tells me he was at this John Mayer show in the Hamptons and he shared a joint with Paul McCartney. They were sitting right next to each other. He didn't think Paul knew his name, but Paul had gone on record that the bald guy who insulted people was his favorite comedian. And they got busted by the usher and Paul mentioned Tokyo and then I told a couple of my own Paul McCartney stories and then a guy came up and... That's the thing about being famous. People want to come up and talk to you. And Jeff was being nice, but now we were bonding, truly connecting, who was this interloper? And these fans always want to impress you, right up front, to earn their connection. And this guy is going on and on and I'm standing there thinking that prior to decades of psychotherapy I would have told him to get lost, but in this case I didn't. And then another guy came up. Acted like he had portfolio, but after demanding our attention and taking our time it turned out he did not. So finally I can go one on one with Jeff again, and we're talking about the Beatles and Wings and we move on to his career and I find I'm giving him advice. And I start to wonder, does this have to do with my anxiety? Fearful of quietude, do I always make it about the other person, afraid of empty space? But my advice is all positive. How the roast thing is great, but the Netflix special was transcendent. And then Jeff's looking over my shoulder...oh, I've bored him. But no, they've gathered to sing Happy Birthday. And when they're done, what do I do, continue to talk or move on? But Jeff hands his phone to someone in the vicinity and tells them to take a picture of us. So I guess he does enjoy my company. And then I tell him to be unafraid of judgment. That when he reveals his true self, then we can connect, and that's what it's all about, what we're all looking for, even Fawn Hall. And Jeff looks me in the eye and says "You get it.," and on that note I tell him I don't want to take up any more of his time, and it was great seeing him... You don't want to glom on to celebrities, you don't want to be a hanger-on. So I mosey on back to our tiny table and Herbie Hancock is standing next to Felice. Now the funny thing is I've sat next to Herbie Hancock before, at a Jacob Collier show at the Fonda. He didn't seem interested in talking to me and I wasn't going to talk to him, figuring he had no idea who I was. But now it was a convivial atmosphere... Nah... I don't need to know any more celebrities. I'd like to do a podcast with him too, but I don't want to sell myself, convince him. So he's famous, never mind talented, but it's not uncommon to be up close and personal with household names in Hollywood, actually, it's nearly de rigueur. But not if you live in the suburbs. Not if you live anywhere else in America other than New York. But New York is different. The society there is much less fluid. And who your parents are and where you went to school count, whereas none of that matters in L.A., here you make it up as you go along, try to create something out of nothing, that's what everybody there was doing. All independent contractors as far as I could tell. They were hustlers, going from project to project, doing their best to keep the balls in the air. The key is to sustain, and stay in the game, but that's easier said then done. And that's when Felice looked me in the eye and said, "Are we done?" And we went downstairs, exited the front door, took an E-ticket van ride back to the valet parking stand, waited for our car and when we got home... "People's Parties" was playing in my head. It had been so much fun going out. That's the thing, you walk out your front door and you have no idea what will happen. Like Saturday night. -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

Ray Winstone In The Gentlemen

Netflix season 2 trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01IeKpHvgvM I'd be lying if I told you I remembered much from the first season of this Guy Ritchie series. It didn't quite gel. Or maybe it was just hard to suspend disbelief and get involved. But it wasn't so bad that I wasn't going to check out the new season, two and a half years later. Now I was surprised to find it was only number four on Netflix's chart, I thought there would be more hunger to see this. Well, number one is "Death of the Pastor's Wife." I thought that was a series, but turns out it's a documentary, albeit with three episodes. I'm burned out on these true crime docs. The best was "Capturing the Friedmans," and now there are some good ones, but too many involve cheesy re-enactments and less than satisfying endings and I haven't watched one in eons. Turns out number two is a documentary too, although only twenty eight minutes long. I didn’t recognize the title, "Instadocs: The Decoy Plane," about Trump's secret escape from the Turkish airport... I guess there's train-wreck value there, but not for me, I read about it, it's enough. If I want to be pissed off by Trump's behavior all I have to do is turn on my phone, but it is interesting that he took Natalie Harp along and left everybody else vulnerable on the Qatar-gifted plane. There's a conspiracy theory that Karoline Leavitt leaked the Harp story as retaliation, but I can't get my knickers in a twist over that, even if it is true. Turns out number three is a docuseries too! "Earle Meets World"... Turns out that's the story of the podcaster Alix Earle... Netflix is criticized for going down-market, but I guess that's what most people want to watch... Now all you've got to know about the plot of "The Gentlemen" is it involves highfalutin' drug dealers. But it's done in that Guy Ritchie style...you know, with writing on the screen, but less occasional humor than in most of his projects. But Guy Ritchie directed the first two episodes of the new season, and you can feel it. The editing is sharper, the cuts hit you harder. Thank god the main character Eddie Horniman's brother Freddy gets less screen time this year. Cocaine addict Freddy just never rang true to me, and the performance was too broad, it chewed on the scenery. But Eddie, played by Theo James, comes from a noble family. He's relatively internalized, a veritable intellectual, always plotting, one or two steps ahead of everybody else. As for his sidekick Susie Glass... She's the day to day majordomo of a drug syndicate. And the two of them banter and interact... It's almost out of a thirties movie. There's really not a lot of sexual tension, but it's more than a brother/sister relationship. And Susie has to remind Eddie that ultimately he works for them, the Glasses. Whose paterfamilias, Bobby Glass, is in jail. Ray Winstone plays Bobby Glass. Ray Winstone... He truly gained notoriety in "Sexy Beast," even though he's got an arm's length of credits over half a century. So there's all this dope dealing action, involving farms in Italy as well as the U.K., but ultimately Susie and Eddie go to visit Bobby in jail. It's kind of a country club jail. But I wouldn't quite call the trappings first class. Bobby has his own cabin, on the river, with a sauna and a grill, and Susie, Eddie and Bobby are in the sauna, shvitzing and... You've got to realize, Ray Winstone is not vain, he's not taking a GLP-1, he's not stick thin like a Hollywood actor, rather he's got a belly and appears closer to a bear than a human...well, not exactly, but you get the point. And I'm watching Bobby and that's when I'm reminded...IT'S RAY WINSTONE! Ray dominates the scene without overpowering the production. He's just so electric, so confident, that his performance oozes into the far corners of the screen. He demands attention. But he can be warm. He can be friendly, familial. But you can always see the fist in the velvet glove... Then again, sometimes he takes the glove off that fist and the intensity... So, Bobby's got ears everywhere. You can't have an interaction without him knowing, it's uncanny. And he's got rules. Like not dealing cocaine. And he's always going on about the big picture. The issue is whether Bobby is caught in the past, or whether he still sees the landscape best and his advice, his guidance, should be adhered to. Eddie thinks the former. That Bobby has been out of the game for too long. And he convinces Susie, Bobby's daughter, of this. Now Susie is played by Kaya Scodelario, not a household name in America, but she started as a teen in the U.K. show "Skins" and has a slew of credits. And the thing about Kaya/Susie is she's beautiful, but she doesn't trade on her image. And she radiates intelligence, but this is not an American sitcom where the woman is brilliant and the man is a dunce. No, Susie and Eddie are a team...they've thrown in together in the marijuana business. Susie is willing to learn from Eddie, but she possesses her own wisdom, her own insight. And this is a gangster show. In that there's a code of honor and image is paramount... Now the supporting cast is great too. Joely Richardson as Eddie's mother Lady Sabrina. And Giancarlo Esposito/Gus Fring as American billionaire Stanley Johnston. And Benedetta Porcaroli as an Italian pilot/Mafia liaison. She's vulnerable, but can take charge too. She's not as beautiful as Susie, nor is she a bombshell men salivate over, but she's integral to the story. And most of the action takes place outside the prison. Bobby Glass is talked about, what he would think, what he would say, but they only check in with Bobby in person now and again. Until... I don't want to give anything away, but I will say that ultimately Bobby Glass finds out that Susie and Eddie have not obeyed his instructions. How does he know? That's another issue. But he confronts them... I'm still thinking about this performance a day later. I can still feel the intensity. Bobby starts somewhat calm and then ramps it up and... God, it reminds me of my father, when he got pissed. All you could do was stand back and watch the show, you knew that something you’d done had made him angry and nothing you could say or do now would calm him down, you just had to let him blow off steam... But Bobby Glass knows exactly where he wants to go, what he wants to say. And he's going to tighten the noose. This ain't no dignified lawyer type, Bobby is a street guy, and he knows the street, and he knows intimidation, and he knows how to earn respect and maintain power. He knows the game, he sees the game, and as long as you understand that, agree with him and follow his guidance, he can be an almost fun hang. But when crossed... It goes on and on. Ray as Bobby is so intense, your hair is blown back like in that old Maxell ad. Your body is frozen in place. You're just enduring it waiting for the ultimate conclusion, what Bobby is going to say, how he's going to resolve the situation and his anger. This scene would work even if you never saw the rest of the show, that's how powerful and spot-on Ray Winstone's performance is. And it doesn't seem like a performance, it seems like Ray truly is Bobby Glass, and he's pissed and is going to let you know it and make damn sure you never cross him again. There's a self-confidence you don't see in wannabe gangsters. The kind dealing dope on the street corner, or behind the scenes with a bunch of runners. Bobby Glass built the game, he has endured, he plots strategy, no one does it better, GOT THAT? I CERTAINLY DID!!! -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

The Brian Epstein Book

"Mr. Moonlight: Brian Epstein and the Making of the Beatles": https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Moonlight-Epstein-Making-Beatles-ebook/dp/B0FTVW9JN5/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0 You can't make it without a manager. With hindsight you'd think that the Beatles were fully-formed, waiting to be picked up by a label and blasted into the stratosphere. But nothing could be further from the truth. Of course there's the story, the facts, but even more interesting to me is the identity of these people, who they were, what motivated them, what sustained them? Brian Epstein was a terrible student, who didn't even serve a full term in the military and ultimately became ensconced in his family's business, mostly furniture, but he opened a record department... Funny to think about the importance of retail today, it was everything prior to the internet, it was where the sales transaction took place, where the rubber met the road. And Brian was an active manager of the store, stocking all the hits and writing in the local music paper, having star-studded openings of new outlets, but there was nothing in his past that would have you believe he'd go into music management. But then he saw the Beatles. And not only did it change their life, but his too. Brian was a classical music fan. He was relatively upper-crust, he was out of place at the Cavern Club, but what he saw there... Not only a performance, but the reaction, and the reaction is key. So he proposes to the Beatles that he become their manager and they say SURE! They've been around the block, they don't expect much, if this rich guy wants to give them some money and promote them, they'll take that ride. Not that overnight success is imminent. Brian can't even get them better gigs. As for a record deal, he keeps striking out, until he ultimately gets connected with George Martin. Epstein gets a bad rap, over the inadequate deals he made. But what people forget is HE WAS THE FIRST PERSON TO DO IT, HE WAS THE PROGENITOR! Sure, there were pop acts before the Beatles, but always time-stamped, evanescent. You went for the quick buck as opposed to the long term, there was no belief there'd be a long term. And there were underlying circumstances. Northern Songs? It went public as a tax dodge. And John and Paul selling shares shortly after it was floated on the exchange? That was a way of getting cash. No one could foresee these songs would be worth so much more than half a century later. Ditto Apple. It too was a tax dodge. Conventional wisdom was that the Beatles had a hunger, wanted to spread their wings and have their own company. But Apple was just a way to avoid paying taxes, they had no idea what they were going to do with the company. As for the bad merch deal... No one had sold this amount of merch previously, and Epstein changed the percentages mid-term in the boys' favor. Was Epstein the first to call his charges "the boys"? I'm not sure, but that's what acts are referred to in the U.K. to this day, no matter how old they might be. If not quite ruffians, the Beatles' image was more in the gutter, more punk than rattle your jewelry cleanliness. Epstein insisted on the suits, and the Beatles went along BECAUSE NOTHING ELSE HAD WORKED! It was totally different from today. Where everybody is a student of the game and does their best to retain artistic control and get the lion's share of the money from day one. What is a reasonable percentage from a movie deal? "A Hard Day's Night" was not the first pop act film. They were throwaways at best. No one foresaw the juggernaut the flick would become. Should Epstein have hired an attorney sophisticated in the business? Sure, but how many were there? Even better, how many savvy music business attorneys were there? No, Eppy was making it up as he went along. Always with the band's best interests at heart. This is stressed, how he wanted the deals to be fair, he didn't want to rip them off. Having said that, HE SPENT! Now you've got to know, you've got to spend to make it, like Brian buying up copies of "Love Me Do" in the hope of it storming the chart. Success requires money. And it was more about image and lifestyle than cash anyway. It was a ride, which was gonna end, enjoy it as you go. It's totally different today. Almost all managers are behind the scenes. Become a public figure and you risk getting fired, the act becoming jealous, wondering if you have its best interests at heart. But Brian? He hosted TV programs... He was in the public eye far beyond any manager today. The only person even close is Sharon Osbourne, but her path was different, who knew "The Osbournes" TV show would be such a hit? Then again, Sharon never signed the deal, such that when the show was a success, she could go in and renegotiate. A modern tour? They run the numbers before a deal is even made. Encompassing advances, ticket prices, costs... Whereas back then it was much more seat of the pants. We're going to earn a pile of money, that will cover all our costs, right? Was anybody truly keeping track of the costs? So the book stresses the price of Epstein being Jewish and gay. But what was most interesting was that once he built it, once he'd been there and done that, Brian lost the passion, he got depressed. He'd broken the Beatles, now what? And he couldn't sustain a love relationship. So he was a unique guy who didn't fit in anywhere else. As are all the great managers. They're all outsiders, rule-breakers, who are usually laughed at before they triumph. You see they believe before anybody else does, and then make their vision real. This is a dry book. And not all of it is brand new. And there is no smoking gun, other than raising the issue whether Brian was murdered... But who was this guy who found, molded and broke the Beatles? I'd like to tell you every detail is here, but it's not, yet there's more than I've encountered previously. Then again, managers always operate behind the scenes, with smoke and mirrors. The truth? That is fungible. If you're hungering for more Beatles info, here you go. As for lessons... Great managers are born, not made. You can't learn the trade in school. And even at this late date there are few rules. There's no safety net. You've got to keep both sides of the transaction happy. You know people only want you when you and your charges are hot. It's a balancing act. This was not Colonel Parker, behind the scenes, refusing to let Elvis tour Europe for fear of being arrested himself. And Epstein never wanted to compromise the vision, turn the band into movie stars and Vegas performers. But no one could foresee what great writers the Beatles would become, who they'd become. Except Brian. Who ended up lonely and depressed and taking too many pills... People think once you make it, all your problems are solved. But that's just when they begin. And if you're at wits' end, who do you call, who do you talk to, who has had the same experiences? I mean who does Madonna call to commiserate? Or Mick Jagger? You're out there alone. As was Brian Epstein. As are the greatest managers. Today the landscape is clear, the path is well-trodden. But back then, Epstein was breaking trail for his boys. It was a different era. But the band and its music were more vital than any of today's acts, Beatlemania has never bitten the dust. This is where the ascent truly started, when they started working with Brian Epstein. -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

The Shampoo Effect

https://www.amazon.com/Shampoo-Effect-Novel-Jenny-Jackson-ebook/dp/B0FTF73GVN/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0 Now, for a palate cleanser... The number one criterion for a book is readability. It's got to be something that people want to read! Which is why you can buy the vaunted award-winner, the book with all the hype, and find yourself falling asleep on the second or third page. Those people are not writing for readers, they're writing to impress their brethren, usually overeducated people who believe descriptors are the essence of good literature. Now I've been on a run of mediocre books. It's late at night, I pick up what I'm reading and within a page or two I'm not in the mood and I find myself on my iPad, doomscrolling and watching ski videos. I'm not proud of this, I don't like wasting time, but I haven't found a book that has called out to me, that I wanted to read, that I had trouble putting down, until "The Shampoo Effect." My expectations were not high. I read Jenny Jackson's previous novel, "Pineapple Street," and it was middlebrow at best. Satisfying but not life-changing. And I'm trying to avoid books like this, which are about killing time more than emotional fulfillment. But it was long after midnight and I started "The Shampoo Effect" and was immediately hooked. What do we have here... Thirtysomething millennials, dealing with children and everyday obligations, all the questions of life. This isn't about politics. It's partially about family. Why did your parents get married, did they get divorced? Never underestimate role models. Who do you hook up with and why. And that person of your dreams from long ago, are you destined to be with them or in truth have you outgrown them? So the setting is the north shore, up the coast from Boston. It's hard to leave a coastal town, don't underestimate the pull of the beach. And despite so much lousy weather, which requires character to endure, the people in this area stay. As do the people in "The Shampoo Effect," except for the interloper, Caroline, who is there to write a book. But Caroline has her own issues... Her mother is a very successful novelist, far from stupid, but narcissistic. Ever call someone wanting to convey important emotional news and they're so busy talking about themselves, doing chores at the same time, that you don't even bother? That's what Caroline is confronting. So many issues of life... Do you marry your partner...do you need to? And it's the modern world, with betting apps, and people living beyond their means, one bad bet away from losing everything. Do you stand up for yourself or go with the flow? If you make trouble will there be trouble? Now one good thing about "The Shampoo Effect" is you don't have to wait until the end for certain action to happen. You know, when you can foresee what will happen between two people and you've got to read the rest of the book to get there. Not in "The Shampoo Effect," the action moves right along. The expected occurs, then what? Now let me be very clear... This is not highbrow literature. I'm not recommending "The Shampoo Effect" to change your life, because it won't. But you will resonate with some life dilemmas and choices. This is made for a market. Avid female readers. But it's a cut above most of the predictable dreck. So if you're a woman who goes from one novel to another, read "The Women" by Kristin Hannah... Hannah is a cut above Jenny Jackson. But having said that, what happens in "The Shampoo Effect" rings more true. And you'll get totally caught up in its world. The world of everyday life, not the one of people promoting themselves online. As for men... There is a certain type of male that likes to read fiction and is very interested in relationships and family dynamics. They will enjoy "The Shampoo Effect." If this doesn't describe you, don't even start. On one hand "The Shampoo Effect" is a summer beach read. But really, it's a cut above that. Not a huge cut, but definitely on a somewhat higher plane. Life is all about people. How they react. Their choices. And that's what "The Shampoo Effect" is all about. It's not going to win any awards, at least none of the major ones, but if you are a reader and you like to be engrossed in a book that calls out to you, I recommend it. -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

CD Sales Bounce

If I see one more inane, insane article about the uptick in CD sales... They're merch, not carriers of music, as anyone on the inside will tell you. Hell, most kids today don't even have access to a CD player, never mind a cassette deck or Walkman to play the ancient tape format the press kept telling us was back over the past couple of years. What is it about our retro society that it refuses to accept progress? We've got a whole political party based on bringing us back to a theoretical past that was supposedly better, oldsters decrying the internet, even those who abhor all the technological improvements in automobiles... Yes, there was an article saying that customers are looking for tech free cars. I'm sure there are a few. Just like there are people who still don't have smartphones or a streaming TV account. This reminds me of that old AOL news story saying the new fashion was a split tongue. I haven't heard anything about this since, never mind never encountering someone with this self-inflicted physical deformity. So Luminate, the renamed SoundScan, announced in its midyear report that CD sales were up 16%. That seems significant in the abstract, but percentage increases are secondary to sheer unit volume. Total CD sales were 16.3 million units. De minimis. Hell, there have been single albums that have sold more. But it gets even worse... Luminate. Charts. They exist for the industry itself. And the rules are constantly rewritten to satisfy that industry, forget truth. And the bottom line is physical sales are worth much more than streams on the chart. Even though streams represent the vast bulk of consumption, probably just about all of it...just because you bought physical product, that does not mean you listened to it, never mind over and over again. So in order to get to number one, acts release their new albums in multiple physical formats, driving their hard core fans to purchase not only one, but multiples. This isn't about music, but fandom. Collecting. No different from Beanie Babies or Pokemon cards. And it's relatively inexpensive compared to the cost of tickets and merch at the show. So... BTS alone accounted for approximately 3.5% of the CD sales. There were four different CD versions of the Korean group's last album, "ARIRANG." As well as eleven different vinyl versions. But vinyl is much more expensive (and more profitable!) than CDs. So some fans will forgo vinyl for CD. But one thing is for sure, people are buying CDs of albums easily accessible on streaming platforms, oftentimes multiple CDs, as a badge of honor, a badge of fandom. Now the interesting thing is if you take out K-pop, CD sales only increased by 6.7%. That's right, almost ten points of the percentage increase, more than half of the bubble, was K-pop alone. Driven by multiple iterations of the same album. Paul McCartney released six different CD versions of his latest album, "The Boys of Dungeon Lane"... Overall, there were twenty six physical versions... How else is he going to get to number one? When it comes down to listening... The new album is trumped by scores of acts and tracks on streaming platforms. Ditto Madonna. "Confessions II" was released in four different CD iterations. There were fifteen physical variants overall. It's no surprise it entered the chart at number one. But the streams, the actual consumption, how almost all listening is done, are positively anemic. Not a single track breaks nine figures on Spotify. None of them break fifty million. None of them break thirty million. She's got one track at 24 million and two others in double digit millions and that's it. But if you read the press, you'd think that Madonna is back, she's got this monster new album! Nothing could be further from the truth. Harry Styles, Ariana Grande, Ollivia Rodrigo, Gracie Abrams...what do they all have in common? Their new albums all had multiple CD versions and they all debuted at number one! Hell, even the Rolling Stones released their new album in multiple CD versions. But the new Stones album, "Foreign Tongues," which was released with such noise? Not a single cut, not one, has eight figures of streams on Spotify, that's right, not a single one has ten million streams...not a single one even has five million streams! But we are subjected to article after article, videos even, waxing rhapsodic about this return to the CD format, how the younger generations are finally waking up, abandoning streaming to listen to music the way their forefathers did. I can't stop laughing. The only story here is how acts are manipulating the chart via multiple versions of their new album. That's the entire story. Return to CD? Are you NUTS? Today it's all about convenience. Even more interestingly, most of these new albums can be listened to in better than CD quality on streaming platforms! CDs are from forty-plus years ago. Are you dying to drive a car from 1982? Hell, let's get rid of Amazon and Door Dash and make you drive to the store to find out they don't have the product you're looking for. Oh, that's another thing the older generations want to return to... Isn't it so sad that physical retail is dying... Oldsters hate change and the somnambulant media picks up on any top line news and runs with it, doing almost no investigation. Then again, if we can't even agree on political facts, what are the odds we can agree on something as trivial as CD sales. And they are trivial. Let's look at video games, which are still pooh-poohed by the educated. One game, Meccha Chameleon, which you probably have never even heard of, was released on June 10th and has already sold in excess of thirteen million copies, talk about a hit! Record companies keep talking about superfans, trying to eke out more from them on streaming, something that has not come to pass despite years of hype, but one thing is for sure, just like paying handsomely for tickets to see their favorite acts live, fans will pay for multiple physical products to feel closer to the act. We live in a streaming world. It's all about consumption, not sales. Look forward, not back. Do not be swayed by clickbait headlines and the words of the ignorant. There is no CD listening revival. None whatsoever. Sorry. -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

The Heart Scan

1 I had to go to Torrance. Those playing the home game will remember that I see this heart doctor who says if I follow her program, I'll never die of a heart attack, no patient has yet. And like seemingly every good doctor in Los Angeles, she doesn't take insurance, which means I've got to pay $2500 a year for the privilege. And they draw blood in her office. And do ultrasounds too. But you have to go out for some tests, like this CT scan with contrast. You know, where they pump this iodine solution into your veins while you're inside the machine, that gives you a metallic taste in your mouth and makes you feel warm all over. Now the last time I went across the street, to that scan center on Wilshire. All good except they missed my vein twice and I insisted they bring a new person in to do it, which they were not happy about. So why did I have to go all the way to Torrance? I called and got this vague response about the doctor preferring it and there being some benefit so, I agreed. Now when I first moved to Los Angeles... It was like my records came alive. El Monte...you mean where Legion Stadium was, from the Zappa record? And Pico and Sepulveda. All the references were right up close and personal. In addition there were other landmarks of interest, and we partook of them. Me and my girlfriend thought nothing of going deep into the Valley for what was said were the best chips in L.A. (they were, made on the spot, I still think about them), or into the hood to get barbecue from Mr. Jim's ("You don't need no teeth to eat Mr. Jim's meat."). Or to a movie. Actually, I remember one holiday going to a movie theatre in Torrance to see "Popeye." I was alone and at that point I saw nearly everything, but despite it being a Robert Altman film it wasn't really worth it. Driving south the coast goes from Playa del Rey to Manhattan Beach to Hermosa Beach to Redondo Beach to Palos Verdes. And if you go inland from there, you get Torrance. And the bike path goes all the way down to Redondo, and I rode down there on a regular basis back in the day, however the wind always blows south, so the ride back up was always a slog. I've been to all the coastal restaurants and bars, it's a different lifestyle down there. I've experienced it. But not for years. Because the traffic is just too bad and been there/done that. As for the traffic... I'd drive from West L.A. to Valley Circle to see a film in that dump of a duplex. No one would do that today. But you reach a certain age... Is it that I've done it all. Or that I'm not interested in doing that which I have not? The seventies are positively weird. In your twenties and into your thirties it's all about going out. But once you're in your sixties it becomes about staying home. Most of the people I know no longer even go out to eat on a regular basis. They certainly won't go on the weekend. Is this how it's going to be going forward? Or do I have to go to new cities and countries just to explore? But even worse, reach a certain age and you realize you're never going to get everywhere. So Torrance... Exactly how long is it going to take me to get there? I could tell you all about the psychology of traffic in Los Angeles, but I must say with the advent of map apps, it's gotten so much easier. But when you're trying to plan days in advance... The maps will give you a reading, but it's not definitive. So I've got to book a time that's not too early and not too late. Because the afternoon traffic coming back is hellish. So, they want me to be there at 10:50 to be ready for an 11:20 scan. I know it's all b.s., they do this so you won't be late, and I'm always on time. But when I called to book the appointment, they were going through the details and told me my doctor prescribed a Cleerly and insurance didn't cover it and it would be $950 cash. WHAT? I told them I'd call them back. So I immediately went to Dr. Google and it told me a Cleerly was AI plaque mapping. Yeah, right. Whenever I hear AI, my eyes roll into the back of my head. Like with the cannabis fever of a few years back. CBD will cure anything! Did you ever try it? Multiple brands of CBD ointments never worked for me (don't worry, I didn't pay, I got them for free), and no one ever talks about them anymore. So I e-mailed the doctor, was this really necessary? And she didn't insist I get the Cleerly, but she spoke of its advantages and highly recommended it. So I've got to ask myself, do I feel lucky? 2 So someone close to me whose name I won't mention found out they needed three stents and a heart valve. When I got this person one on one, they told me they hadn't gone for a physical in five years, only a prostate test. But they'd been taking the statin, right? Nope. They just started when this was all diagnosed back in April. That's what you've got to know about my generation. They're anti-pill. But now we're at the age where it all catches up with you, everything they warned you about. Now your arteries are filling up with plaque. It's like rust, it never sleeps. So I guess I'm gonna spend the $950. What does it matter if I die? And I always remember the words of Narada Michael Walden...he told me money comes, and money goes. That's the truth. Whenever I think I'm getting ahead, I get a big bill. As for laying out the $6250 for the Valeda eye treatments last year... The FDA ultimately approved the treatment and I got all my money back in July! So I'm driving down to Torrance. And I'm getting uptight about the gridlock going north, wondering how bad my return trip will be, and I get off at Normandie and I immediately ask myself... WHERE THE HELL AM I? Who lives here? Because if you work in L.A., if you commute, you're going to waste half your life on the freeway. And if you don't, why not live even further away, in a nicer location? Normandie is four lanes and endless. On one side is a vast wasteland, on the other is those condos you see everywhere. Recent construction, behind a wall. People buying a piece of the rock to live on top of one another. The condos were nearly new, and that's nice, but you're living out here? And I'm driving and driving, miles, and then the map app tells me to get ready to make a left. BUT THERE'S NOTHING THERE! Oh, a couple of broken down houses... But it looks more like a nuclear wasteland than a location for a hospital. But I make a left, then a right and... There's an open parking lot. If you can find a hospital sans parking structure in L.A...I've never been to one. Even better, THEY DON'T CHARGE! How can this be? But it looks full. And I'm investigating a space on the street, pondering if it's legal, but then I find a space right in front of the Farima Czyzyk Center for Cardiac Research and Wellness at the Lundquist Institute. (That's right, don't ask me to pronounce it.) And they want my credit card right away. At least I'll get points. And the waiting area is not crowded, but there's someone on the phone... Now this is a heart scan, so some of the folks don't look so good. Do I really want to tell her to stop talking on the phone, she could be close to death! I gave her the stink eye, which didn't work. Even worse...the Wi-Fi sucked. Don't you hate that? Where they've got WIFI, but it's glacially slow, almost unusable. But I only had one bar of cellular signal... So I got up and moved closer to the door and got two, which I needed, because then they told me they were running an hour late. Turned out to be an hour fifteen, but who's counting. ME! So the woman helping me is nice, but I've got to ask her, where does she live? She's taken aback... No, I don't want your address, just the general location. She lives just south of Compton so the drive is usually fifteen minutes. Then she starts telling me the exact route in both directions, how sometimes she gets on the 105... I just wanted to commiserate on the schlepp there, I wasn't looking for driving advice. Ultimately they called me in and one thing I've got to say is they had it together. Unlike at the place on Wilshire, two people worked simultaneously and were hands-on. One getting me in the right position, one piercing my vein and... By time it was all through was I really going to wait for the bone density test they proffered when I was checking in, saying I was due and it was covered by insurance? So I asked how long the wait would be. And was told that they'd already done it, as part of the CT scan! And I was relieved and thinking how great this was until I got ahold of my internist who told me although I was due for a bone scan, the one he prescribed was different. If only I knew. 3 So I was a bit woozy on the way home. Which I won't say was a breeze, but that cluster of stopped cars had worked its way out and I was a bit off the rest of the day, which the info didn't say would happen, but was this just a result of not getting enough sleep the night before? So now it comes down to the results. They told me there was an app, but I wasn't gonna check. Last time I had this test it said I was about to have a heart attack and when I went to see the doctor she remarked how good my numbers were. Huh? It's all about interpretation, about the movement more than the exact number, and I was good. Not so good I could ignore continued treatment. I take a statin and zetia and some other stuff... She sends the blood to the Boston Heart lab, she creates a unique program for each patient, there is no one size fits all solution to creeping heart disease. But curious, I clicked on the e-mail and could then download the results. Hell, I've gotten this far, this is what the CT angiogram said: ______ The coronary system is right dominant. Left main (less than 30%) with mild calcified plaque. The left anterior descending coronary artery with mild disease. Proximal LAD (less than 30%) with mild mixed plaque. Mid LAD (30-49%) with moderate calcified plaque. The left circumflex coronary artery with minimal disease. Proximal CX (less than 30%) with mild calcified plaque. The obtuse marginal branches are without disease. The right coronary artery is normal. The LPDA and PLB are without disease. The left ventricle is of normal size, wall thickness. The left atrium, right ventricle and right atrium are normal. The pericardium, mediastinum and aorta are normal as are the remainder of the cardiac structures. ______ So what does that all mean? Well, at the bottom of the report, it said this: "Impression: Non-obstructive CAD. Moderate atherosclerosis." Well that doesn't sound good. So I went to Dr. Google and you could read it either way, freak out or just hang in there. But wait! There's another report! This is the Coronary Calcium Report. Well, they come up with a number. My score on the Left Main was 3 My score on the Left Anterior Descending was 267. Circumflex was 92. Right was 0. For a grand total of 362! So what does that mean? Let me quote: "As compared to other persons of your age and gender you are in the 50th percentile, with 100 percentile being the highest scores seen in this age category among over 30,000 persons scanned at Harbor-UCLA. Using data from over 30,000 patients, scores are reported based on averages for age and gender. The calcium score suggests a degree of coronary disease which is: Average. Your score is average among people of your age and gender." Well, that doesn't sound bad. Now when you scroll down the page there are some charts, with interpretations and behavior recommendations. The top one says the diagnosis is "Moderate plaque burden." The interpretation is "Moderate, non-obstructive artery disease high likely." What are the recommendations? 1. Institute risk factor modification and clinical follow up. 2. Ensure strict adherence to NCEP cholesterol-lowering guidelines Recommend an appropriate exercise program. 3. Aspirin and cholesterol therapy recommended. 4 As for the Cleerly? I'm still waiting. But reading all the above...are you doing everything you can to prevent death, or do you have your head in the sand. I've got to ask you, do you feel lucky? I'll leave you with that. -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

Toe Hold

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7j8kivJI4rOy06o1tN1M2P?si=e7405762bfe042b7 1 I was used to the Al Kooper version, with a lot more production. But I was out hiking in the mountains listening to the Spotify playlist I created for the "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby" missive and when it slipped into the Johnnie Taylor version of "Toe Hold" I truly got the lyrics for the very first time. Funny how that works, it's half a century later and suddenly you get the meaning of a song. Sometimes I was just oblivious, other times I was too young to understand at the time, and I've always marveled at how these musicians/songwriters were so insightful at such a young age, hell, Jackson Browne was sixteen when he wrote "These Days." Now I always thought the original "Toe Hold" was too naked compared to the Al Kooper cover, but the other night... The thing that truly amazed me first was Johnnie Taylor's voice and delivery. Like most people I knew him most from "Who's Making Love" (to your old lady, while you were out making love), another soul hit on the AM Top 40 of the day. But listening again, this guy is utterly fantastic, amazing, positively a legend whose reputation needs to excavated, studied and admired. You can't get this on a singing competition show. The passion, the intensity. Now the truth is we've got to give Kooper notice for excavating "Toe Hold," which was a b-side to "Little Bluebird" in 1966. I never heard it on the radio, I only knew it because Kooper covered it. But he was not the only one, the same year as it was included in "I Stand Alone," Wilson Pickett did a version. And Pickett deserves all the props he's received, but here he's going through the motions compared to Taylor on his take, Pickett's just Pickettfying the song, whereas Taylor is at his wit's end, he's telling us a tale from his soul, you truly believe it. Now Ellen McIlwaine covered "Toe Hold" too. I'd like to tell you it's delicious, but at best it's interesting. She's received a lot of press recently, but her take pales in comparison to Taylor's too. The only one who comes close is Kooper, because he throws everything into the song, it's a white man's take on the song with horns providing the emphasis that Taylor delivers purely with his voice. 2 "All my life I've been a poor boy It's been hard to get a dime Everything I got I had to pay for it on time, but that's all right" ON TIME! When I was fifteen I knew he wasn't talking about paying on a certain date, but I wasn't wise enough to know what it was like to pay for something on time, not having enough cash to pay for it right up front. "Long as I got a toe hold Long as I got a piece of you Long as I got a toe hold I can make it through" That's all he's looking for, he's not asking for much, he only needs a toe hold. This is the opposite of the braggadocio of today, when everybody's a winner, displaying their wealth. This is the truth, but sans pessimism. "I said I went to my doctor First thing he talked about is malnutrition I'm not tryin' to be a fat man I got to look after my ambition" The doctor takes one look and sees that this guy is struggling, he doesn't have enough of the right food. Yet Johnnie is not focusing on the negative, but the positive. He doesn't want to focus on the pitfalls, but the opportunities. "A lil', lil', lil', lil', lil', lil', lil', lil' toe hold A lil', lil', lil', lil', lil', lil', lil', lil' toe hold" This always stuck out to me in Kooper's take, but it was the sound, the delivery, the way he got all the "lil'"s out. But when Taylor sings it... There's a combination of desperation and internal strength at the same time. He believes in himself, he can make it through. "So baby if you're with me Let the whole world be against me" It's like by singing the song Taylor has convinced himself, with her he can succeed, screw all the forces against him. "I don't expect to ever get rich You may find me diggin' in a ditch" All he's looking for is a toe hold, he's willing to do whatever it takes to get by. It all works as long as he's got her by his side. Now with this delivery, it wouldn't be hard to be convinced. And women were. Taylor had six acknowledged children and three others by three different women. You've got the He-Men of the Universe with all the money in the world, but they haven't got the game of the guy singing this song. That's the power of music. And one can say that fifty years ago the Black man was a second-class citizen sans the opportunities of today, that it's a breakthrough to be able to boast, however... Most people are not winners and the truth is as long as you've got a modicum of ambition you can cobble together a life, you can get by. And more important than the money is love, relationships, life. Tell me all you want about Sam Altman, I'd rather be Johnnie Taylor. The truth is back then musicians were the winners. Because of the music they created. It was right there baked into the grooves, in an era where you had to have the chops to make it, when being a nepo-baby opening for a star was not enough to garner an audience. When all that dreck of today fades away Johnnie Taylor will still be around to triumph, convincing listeners with his music. This guy is utterly fantastic. I'd like to point to someone in today's hit parade who's even in the same league, but I cannot. Although "Toe Hold" was written by Stax greats Isaac Hayes and David Porter, Johnnie Taylor truly makes it his own. "Toe Hold" is a showstopper. One listen would inspire greatness... And cause a plethora of wannabes to call it a day. -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

Brett Gurewitz-This Week's Podcast

Brett Gurewitz is not only the owner of Epitaph Records, but a member of Bad Religion as well. We go deep into Brett's history, from becoming a punk in the San Fernando Valley to ultimately signing Tom Waits to his record label. But before that, Brett opines on the nuts and bolts of running a record label...who to sign, how to promote, interactions with DSPs... Brett is fantastic, this is a MUST-LISTEN! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/brett-gurewitz/id1316200737?i=1000787632482 https://open.spotify.com/episode/2g3zImikq1Ba96fDlHEnT4?si=yNOgWeP0QiyPSzrG4cLAvA https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/brett-gurewitz-343049589 https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/a7f74282-3d37-4868-b5c6-91e249433c9f/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-brett-gurewitz -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

Too Busy Thinking About My Baby

Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0oioxEPvYSl0e07ZsIO2uK?si=f4c4a662074c49f7 1 People forget that "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" went to number two for Gladys Knight & the Pips before Marvin Gaye took it to number one little over a year later, on the way to its becoming the biggest Motown single to date. And the Temptations released "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby" in 1966 before Marvin Gaye had huge success with the song in 1969, although the Temptations never put it out as a single. I could never understand how a song that was already a hit could be a hit by a different artist on the same label so soon thereafter. As for Creedence Clearwater Revival's eleven minute version of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" mere months after the success of Gaye's take, that made no sense to me. It wasn't that different. Unlike Al Kooper's version of "Season of the Witch." 2 That was the track from "Super Session" you heard first, the eleven minute cover of Donovan's "Season of the Witch," it was the same song, but completely different, and just as great, if not better, in its own way. Now I'm an anomaly, I've always preferred the second side of "Super Session" to the first, the one with Stephen Stills as opposed to Michael Bloomfield. Maybe if Stills had died instead he'd be just as revered, then again, Bloomfield's star is fading. So the first song on the second side, Stills's side, is a cover of Bob Dylan's "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry." And it couldn't be further from the original on "Highway 61 Revisited." Now if you listen to it you'll see although Gram Parsons gets all the credit for bringing country to rock, "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" came out on August 30, 1968, whereas "Super Session" was released before that, on July 22nd. Interesting. Now of course "Super Session" came out after the first Blood, Sweat & Tears LP, which is a masterpiece. But it didn't sell prodigiously and Al Kooper was replaced by David Clayton Thomas in his own band. Now Thomas just died and got lengthy obits everywhere. But in truth, his only success came with the second Blood, Sweat & Tears album, whose songs Kooper had picked before leaving/being kicked out (depending on who you listen to). Sans Kooper, the band was dead in the water. So if you purchased the first Blood, Sweat & Tears album, and then "Super Session," you were primed for, and immediately went out and bought, Al Kooper's solo debut, "I Stand Alone." 3 "I Stand Alone"... If only it came out a few years later, when it didn't matter whether you had AM hits or not. It was far from a stiff, but it was ultimately a cult item. At this point, February 1969, very few markets had underground FM radio stations, with free formats that played a cornucopia of music like this. So, in order to hear "I Stand Alone" in most markets you had to buy it. And, in truth, Al Kooper didn't reach his pinnacle of fame until the live version of "Dear Mr. Fantasy" from "The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper" became a radio staple over the ensuing years, gaining traction as FM radio spread. That's right, the original Traffic "Dear Mr. Fantasy" was not a hit. By this point, the band had broken up, there was no single. The song was legendary if you knew it, but not that many people knew it, not that many people had purchased Traffic's debut at all. But Al Kooper had. "Smiling Phases" had been picked for, and appeared on, the second Blood, Sweat & Tears album, the one without him, and on "I Stand Alone," Kooper covered "Coloured Rain." Now in truth, the title track, "I Stand Alone," is a standout. But some of the covers... Kooper covered Nilsson's "One," and Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky," but the two soul covers were the piece-de-resistance, "Toe Hold" and "Hey, Western Union Man." "Toe Hold" was a Stax staple, first recorded by Johnnie Taylor. This song has been unjustly lost to the sands of time, and Jerry Butler's "Hey, Western Union Man" had more commercial success, and I hear it on SiriusXM every once in a blue moon, but this is a soul classic just waiting to be discovered by the younger generations. But back in 1969, Al Kooper took these two numbers and applied the Blood, Sweat & Tears formula, maintaining some soul, but bringing horns right up front and rockifying both of them, "Hey, Western Union Man" is one of my absolute favorite tracks period, with the horn flourish announcing the number, down to the telegraph clicks to boot. Yes, Kooper threw in everything, including the kitchen sink, but instead of a mess, he made a delectable concoction. So if you loved these songs as much as I did, purchasing Al Kooper's 1969 follow-up, "You Never Know Who Your Friends Are," was a no-brainer. No, scratch that, I awaited it with bated-breath, bought it immediately when it came out, broke the shrinkwrap, dropped the needle... Now the title track opens the second side, and it's an enjoyable jaunt. And the first side opener, "Magic in My Socks" was good too, but ultimately one can't call the "You Never Know Who Your Friends Are" album anything but a disappointment. And I was really disappointed, having loved "I Stand Alone" so much. But back in those days, if you bought it, you played it, ad infinitum, because you'd paid for it, and you ended up knowing it by heart. And at this late date the one track I think of when I think of this album, the one that sticks out, that is embedded in my brain, is Al's version of "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby." 4 "Uh-huh, oh yeah Uh-huh, oh yeah" And then the horns come in heralding excitement, levitating the room, and Al starts to sing: "I ain't got time to think about money Or what it can buy" They were off and running, just like with "Toe Hold" and "Hey, Western Union Man" on the previous album. This ain't the Marvin Gaye version, it's sped-up, it's a tear, only a little bit of the soul is left, replaced with those horns and the mellifluous voices of the backup singers. It might have been cut in a studio, but it's got a live feel, this is the kind of music you want the band to play when you're at the club. (Well, at least when they used to have bands at clubs.) You know how it is. There's nothing somnambulant about it, you're completely energized, at the end of your wits, bopping around. And Kooper's take is great, but it's not in the league of Marvin's. You don't want to compete with Gaye, because he'll wipe the floor with you. 5 Now the Temptations' original has a different groove, it positively swings, it's even sweetened with strings. Eddie Kendricks is giving it everything he's got. But today it sounds dated, a period piece, hearkening back to the past more than looking forward. Sure, it's soul, but it sounds closer to the big band era than what Kooper did with the track, modernizing the horns, never mind the groove. And that's what Marvin Gaye added, the groove. "Uh-huh-huh, oh yeah Oh, listen to me, people" And we are. This is not the Kooper take, hedonistically dancing in the club to the band banging it out on stage. No, Marvin demands our attention, from the very get-go. "I ain't got time to think about money Or what it can buy" And you believe him. But it really kicks in in the second verse, when Marvin truly gets into it, starts to play. He growls. He takes his voice way up high. He's showing off for the object of his affection...and us. There's a brief instrumental section, with the strings sweetly singing, and then Marvin comes back. "All the diamonds and pearls in the world Could never match her worth, no, no She's some kind of wonderful, people will tell you" BINGO! "She's some kind of wonderful," Marvin lays it down exactly as Grand Funk lifts it for their own track with that moniker, directly from Gaye to Farner. Yup, when I hear people mention "Some Kind of Wonderful" these two songs conflate, become one in my brain. Then again, both acts are from Michigan and the message is ultimately the same. But, Grand Funk is bopping the woman over the head, it's akin to the Flintstones, whereas Marvin is more like Cary Crant, suave. "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby" is two minutes and fifty six seconds of perfection, compact and exquisite. And Norman Whitfield produced the record. And he wrote the song too, along with Barrett Strong and... Janie Bradford. -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

Janie Bradford

Who? Every day my father used to wake up my mother saying "Muggs, guess who died!" Well, not every day, but often enough that it became a regular joke in our family. My father read the obituaries assiduously, after all, he grew up in Bridgeport and he knew most of the names. Not anymore. Today you can die and most people are unaware. Oh, you can purchase an obit in the paper...then again, who reads the paper? No, at this point very few purchase obituaries, but the papers publish their own words for significant people. And it's interesting who makes the cut, who they choose. Of course Dolly Parton gets reams. To tell you the truth, I don't remember this much passion and furor about anybody dying since Elvis. (Of course, except for John Lennon, who is in his own category, I'm still not over that.) So Dave Marsh earned an obituary. But more well-known people do not. Seems the more idiosyncratic your success was, the more impact you had in a certain field, however narrow, the greater the odds you'll be featured. Just being rich is not enough. Although if you reach a certain amount of fame, you'll get some words. But the thing about obits is they come after you die. So you can't bask in the admiration. It's kind of like that "Curb Your Enthusiasm" episode with Albert Brooks watching his own funeral. That's what you want, to hear the accolades before you pass. And the funny thing is obits are not always consistent. Like with Jaye P. Morgan. The "Los Angeles Times" said this: "Morgan was class treasurer of her California high school, and her peers nicknamed her J.P. after the 19th century financier J.P. Morgan. She later feminized it by changing the initial J to Jaye." The "New York Times" this: "'My name was Mary Morgan, and at the time there were a lot of singers with the last name "Morgan,"' she said. (Their ranks included Jane Morgan and Marion Morgan.) It was Mr. DeVol who came up with Jaye P., a play on the name of the Gilded Age financier J.P. Morgan." What is the truth? I tend to trust the "New York Times," its obits are usually more in-depth, but when it comes to entertainment figures, the "Los Angeles Times" is occasionally superior. Which raises the question whether Barrett Strong, singer of the song, was one of the composers of "Money (That's What I Want)," the first hit Motown single, albeit on Tamla. Here's what Wikipedia says: "Singer Barrett Strong claimed that he co-wrote the song with Berry Gordy and Janie Bradford. His name was removed from the copyright registration three years after the song was written, restored in 1987 when the copyright was renewed, and then excised again the following year. Gordy has stated that Strong's name was only included because of a clerical error." (Wikipedia was determined to be almost as accurate as the Brittanica...) So that's who Janie Bradford is/was. She co-wrote "Money." You know, that song that every garage band played back in the sixties, never mind the new wave version by the Flying Lizards in 1979. Of course the Beatles covered it. Was that our inspiration? "Money" just seemed to be a song in the air, the kind that was always there, the concept of someone actually writing it seemed if not unfathomable, at least superfluous. It was bigger than its composers. Now depending on which obit you read, Janie Bradford either got a gig as a receptionist at Motown and worked her way into becoming a songwriter or Gordy Berry was introduced to her by Jackie Wilson as a songwriter and she was regarded as such from the very beginning. Does it matter? Yes, only because the story is so unique. For all the stories of Carole King and Cynthia Weil, the truth is successful woman songwriters were a rarity, especially in the Black soul music world. Hell, we've heard about Holland/Dozier/Holland and Smokey Robinson, as for Ashford & Simpson, their first hit didn't come until 1966, with Ray Charles's version of "Let's Go Get Stoned." But "Money" was released in 1959. Now anybody can get a credit once. Maybe you were just in the room. But to do it twice? We all know "Money." But we also know "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby." -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25