Best Opening Track-SiriusXM This Week

Tune in June 13th to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West. Phone #: 844-686-5863  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

Rush At The Forum

1 It was invigorating! Now the truth is if you were a rock music fan before the advent of the internet you know Rush, because the band's music was played on the radio, which you were addicted to, it was your Bible, your source, your heart. But you might not have been a Rush fan. Then again, there were and still are Rush fans. For a band that never had a Top 40 hit, that were doing it the own way, jumping off musically from established sounds into a new territory. Rush were sui generis. You could call them "prog rock," but no one sounded exactly like the band. That was a feature, not a bug. Back when music was an exploratory medium that not only drove the culture, but pushed it forward. Today? What we've got is entertainment. A lot of me-too. And because the barrier to entry is so low, there are a lot of complaints from substandard acts that they cannot get traction, they cannot get paid. Did you see that lawsuit against Spotify from the guy complaining he isn't making any money? I checked on the service, each of his cuts has under 1,000 streams, what, does he expect to get rich? Yes, people are still complaining that their cheese has been moved. So what we've got is commerce, which most people are not interested in, never has music meant less in the culture since the advent of the Beatles, and an underclass of niches and wannabes, none of which deserve mainstream attention. And then we have Rush. Now when we go to a show today we expect an extravaganza, the music almost secondary to the images, the antics. Of course there are acts like Zach Bryan who operate in a more singer-songwriter mode, but the old rock of yore, the kind that you cranked to the max and banged your head to... That's gone. Oh, there are niche metal bands. But Rush was bigger than all of them. And now Rush is back. Did we expect Rush to come back? It's been a decade, so no. Everybody's got enough money and the dirty little secret is these acts are getting older every day, and eventually you fall off the conveyor belt, you cannot do it anymore, although right now we're seeing acts who should have hung it up still plying the boards, their audience giving them a pass while so many are wincing. That is not Rush. Now the thing about Rush is it's not a cult of personality. It's not based on larger than life figures. Rather it's three men from Canada sans airs. Sure, over time their drummer (and lyric writer!) Neil Peart was considered one of the best, if not the best, behind the kit, but still, the band did not get a lot of respect. Everybody knew them, but they were not held up as a paragon of excellence that must be paid attention to. They were just there, with acolytes, mostly male, but NOW! Maybe absence makes the heart grow fonder, maybe everybody else is running on fumes, but last night rock and roll returned with a vengeance. Without plastic surgery, without trying to look young and modern, but by just being itself. And that was astounding. In an era where rock is considered dead, Rush were fully alive. It was a jolt of electricity, like finding the Holy Grail. 2 Now I'm not a huge Rush fan. I know the radio tracks, I've seen the band, I've corresponded with and met Alex, but the people last night... NO ONE WAS A CASUAL FAN! Other than maybe the women brought along with their significant others. Never have I seen so many women at a Rush show. Because this was an event, not to be missed. Which started off with a lengthy film, including the "I Love You, Man" men, Jason Segel and Paul Rudd, and even the Lil Rush South Park characters. There was an honoring, with respect, but also a sense of humor. And then the music began. Now there were some sounds triggered by keyboards, but really, everybody was playing live. And that you can feel. There's a power in rock and roll, and it was evident in the Forum last night. Despite not getting a lot of attention and respect, you realize that Alex Lifeson is playing all those guitar parts, on a million different guitars, hanging it out there alone. As for Geddy Lee... He's thumbing his bass with the entire force of his body. And the drummer, Anika Nilles... She was the secret sauce. This was not a YouTube replacement, someone picked to recreate the old sound like Arnel Pineda. You didn't have to close your eyes and remember when. This was alive and kicking, the thunderous bass drum underlined the music and... Now we live in the modern era. Which means technology is rampant. Which means there are giant screens and you could see Annika playing... She was CONCENTRATING! When everybody else seems to be going through the motions. She wasn't lazily smiling, rather she was in charge of moving this freight train forward, it was amazing. I'm sure Annika will inspire young girls to become drummers. She's not bombastic, she's EXECUTING! It was fascinating to watch. As was Alex's fretwork. As for Geddy, he's the frontman. Being himself, having fun. God, everybody else is so concerned about their image, trying to convey that they're separate and better than us, whereas Geddy seemed to be plugged into the wall and jumping on electricity, wholly being himself. And there were all the production tricks, the moving lights, the see-through screens, if you haven't been to a show for a while you'll marvel. But they were in SUPPORT of the music, they were subsidiary, they added to the effect, they didn't overwhelm or replace it. No one left the stage for costume changes. It was the same as it ever was. And it hasn't been that way for a very long time. 3 So the truth is there are four different sets. The plan was to play four nights in every city so diehard fans could experience their favorites. There are 38 songs in all. If you want to hear it, chances are they'll play it. My favorite, which I just found out the band hadn't played live since 2002, was "New World Man." There's that percolation, that groove, the twinkly guitar figure and then... "He's a rebel and a runner He's a signal turning green He's a restless young romantic Wants to run the big machine" And just the way Geddy sings the next line, "He's got a problem with his poisons," there's a different delivery, it's like he's having a conversation, not just singing the lyrics straight, you feel like he's talking directly to you. And all the while, it's all getting intense, and then... "Learning to match the beat of the old world man Learning to catch the heat of the third world man" And then the sound EXPLODES! Everybody's doubling-down in intensity, it's like the roller coaster has reached its peak and is now descending... "He's a new world man" While you were just sitting there the track snuck up on you, amping up almost imperceptibly. You can no longer sit still. Your body is moving involuntarily, your arms are flexing as your head goes back and forth praying to the steering wheel. And at the show you're shocked into activity, you're fully awake, moving to the sound of the music. Just like you did back when the years had a 19 in front of them. But maybe because Rush music doesn't sound quite like anything else, since there's really no context, it sounds just as fresh as it did when it came out. So much other material sounds like it was a product of its era. But if you're not competing with anybody, you're only competing with yourself. 4 Don't go if you're not a Rush fan, it's not for you. It's a club, the band knows who its fans are, it's not softening the sound, changing it to try and appeal to the fringe, to make itself bigger. But it's not a cult. It's bigger than that. Because if you're of a certain age, you know this music, and if you were a fan you know the albums, you're in deep, because that's the way it used to be. That's why you went to the show, not to hear the hits, but to hear the album tracks, that were just as important to you. This was what the business was built upon. Unique acts with skills and vision, who were pushing the envelope and exceeding our expectations. And we haven't had that spirit here since 1999. So to be confronted with it at the Forum last night was a revelation. It was a return to the garden. It was the same as it ever was. Turns out the formula was not lost, just that Rush had to reform to remind us. Go see Rush and you want to come home and listen to the records, you want to not only see the band again, but OTHER bands. You get that hunger, you want more of this. Something outside the b.s. of regular life, but in its own way just important. Not anybody can do this. It's a tightrope walk. And Rush pulls you right up on the wire with them. It's EXHILARATING! -- 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

Sienna Spiro

This is the second time this has happened, an English act that has been hiding in plain sight, successful across the pond, only gets traction here in the U.S. years later. That’s the story of Olivia Dean and now Sienna Spiro. Now Dean was boosted by opening for Sabrian Carpenter on her "Short n' Sweet" tour back in 2025. But it wasn't until "Man I Need" was adopted by TikTok that she triumphed in the U.S., to the point where her tour is one of the hottest of the summer, people complaining they can't buy tickets. But her first album came out in the U.K. in 2023 and reached a pinnacle of number 4 on the chart. She was nominated for a slew of Brit Awards in the wake of that success, however, it was crickets over here in the U.S. But the funny thing is anybody who actually heard Dean's work would know it had mass appeal. The only issue was reaching the public. As for Sienna Spiro, she had chart action in the U.K., but it wasn't until the inclusion of "Material Lover" in "The Devil Wears Prada 2" that she gained mindshare over here. So what have we learned? A bunch of things: 1. American outposts of international conglomerates are doing a piss-poor job of promoting the work of overseas artists. There are many reasons, but I'd bet the classic one plays a factor...people want to promote their own signings to bask in the glory if they hit, something they won't get, at least not in spades, if they boost a foreign number. One can also argue there's a lack of vision, that both these acts don't sound exactly like what is in the U.S. Spotify Top 50, so to break them is seen as a heavy lift, which the American labels don't want to attempt, they'd rather go for the low-hanging fruit. 2. Movies don't have the mental reach they once did. The hype for "The Devil Wears Prada 2" was inescapable. But did anybody CARE? I saw the first film, it seemed self-contained, no sequel was implied or necessary. But in Hollywood, an old success is always lying in wait to be dredged up and repeated. But whatever I think of the new film, it did gross $216.2 million in the U.S. and Canada, which is approximately 20 million attendees. Now that's not chump change, but today the public does not buy soundtracks, they pick and play that which gains notoriety. Let me restate this... "The Devil Wears Prada 2" definitely lifted the included Sienna Spiro track "Material Lover," but the days of "The Bodyguard" are over, it didn't make the song an instant, ubiquitous cultural success. But why did it take a soundtrack inclusion to shine a light on Spiro? Why couldn't her music stand on its own previously? But as much of a push, as much of a breakthrough "Material Lover" is. it still hasn't penetrated the Spotify U.S. Top 50. And with 36,391,982 streams it only has a fraction of the listens of "Die on This Hill," which has 480,556,851 and "The Visitor," "You Stole the Show" and "Maybe," all of which are over 100 million. 3. Do charts reflect success? Now the funny thing is "Die on This Hill" made it all the way to #9 in the U.K. last year, but it also made it to #19 in the U.S! So, the label did make somewhat of an effort, but does #19 mean anything anymore? Are the singles charts out of whack with reality? The Luminate charts use a manipulated number. They're comprised of streams, digital downloads, physical sales and airplay. They're a metric for the industry, but in reality? The raw Spotify listening numbers are the ones that tell the truth, that everybody relies on. There's no weighting, nobody out purchasing physical product to goose the chart number, they're a reflection of raw demand. Then again, does #19 mean that anybody really heard it? One thing is for sure, whatever the chart number, Sienna Spiro was essentially unknown by most Americans until very recently. But the funny little thing is you only have to LISTEN to Sienna Spiro, just like Olivia Dean, to get it. This music is the opposite of most of the drivel purveyed today. These two acts are steeped in traditional R&B, not a far cry from the music of the sixties and seventies, the perennials that are still played today. This isn't novelty music based on one chord. There is no 808 on "Material Lover," a sound which has even infiltrated the country world. The bottom line is Spiro could be a gigantic act if most Americans heard her, were exposed to her (the movie helped, but that's far from everybody in the country). So, our avenues of exploitation are broken. How can an act as good as this not be an instant smash, she would have been in the pre-internet era. The youth-focused music business has excluded much of the country, playing to an ever-dwindling slice of the market. Believing only youngsters are interested in new music. But the dirty little secret is the industry has burned out the public by hyping niche stuff that many find unappealing. And there's so much in the pipeline that it's overwhelming for most people, they just listen to their old favorites, they've given up on new music. But if they heard "Material Lover"... That's the challenge, how does the industry get people to listen to Sienna Spiro? If this were the seventies, Spiro would be embraced by rock fans who did not need singles success to validate their listening choices. She'd be seen as a credible artist. You know, one who has something to say beyond the single, who is just not cookie-cutter, following trends. "Material Lover" sounds good, it's upbeat and soothing, and you can dance to it. What more can you want? How do we connect the dots between the song/act and the audience? That's the challenge. But the truth is "Material Lover" has more mass appeal than the movie it was part of. This is music's power, the ability to reach all and affect the national consciousness. How could Sieanna Spiro be hiding in plain sight and go unrecognized until now and still by so few? That is the question. "Material Lover": Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/2NT5EOtSEOrjfisvwmSv5S?si=24fc38be12b74d90 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZOiy1-cnxM -- 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

Jeff Ross-This Week's Podcast

The Roastmaster General released the best comedy special of the year, "Take a Banana for the Ride." In this wide ranging conversation we cover the creation of the special as well as the story of Jeff's comedy career, starting in standup, breaking into roasts and ultimately roping in Tom Brady! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jeff-ross/id1316200737?i=1000772170544 https://open.spotify.com/episode/1EDM9VqcVDNx8Tkeg6KPGE?si=BFPZic0eSXGdmML8-1-OWQ https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/jeff-ross-336537494 https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/d931f8ea-aff8-4d9c-9d1e-c10c6cd7ffc0/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-jeff-ross -- 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

Alice And Steve

Hulu trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBpDGJkjSdk I was laughing uproariously watching this last night. (Is that the proper use of the word? I'm gonna leave it in, you'll tell me.) We were up to the final episode of "Berlin and the Lady With an Ermine," but it was an hour and twenty one minutes long and that would be past Felice's bedtime so we hopped over to Hulu for "Alice and Steve," which I'd been reading about, which I wanted to see primarily for the inclusion of Nicola Walker. Now I was a big "Money Heist" fan, but this second prequel is not as good as the first, and the first wasn't even in the league of the original series. Is it the absence of the Professor? Or Lisbon, who switches sides from police to robber? I'm not sure. But it's slower, much slower. And the funny thing is I read no press about it. Which is unusual, especially for a hit show. I just saw it on the Netflix homepage, however they trick you, they say there's a new season of one of your favorite shows, like "Bonus Family," and you get all excited and fire it up and find out you've already seen it. If you're a diehard "Money Heist" fan, watch "Berlin and the Lady With an Ermine,” otherwise I'd skip it. But I HIGLY recommend "Alice and Steve," even though I've only seen two episodes. I know, I know, I should wait until I watch all six, but by then you will have heard about it elsewhere, and I will lose my first recommender advantage, and I wouldn't want to do that. So Nicola Walker... Where do we start? Well, I'd begin with her star turn in "The Split," about divorce and divorce attorneys. Right now it's on Hulu and Disney+, you always have to check with these foreign shows, they move around (JustWatch.com is your friend). And from there I'd go to "Collateral" and then "River" and if you're already a fan you may have personal favorites I have not mentioned here, Walker is far from an unknown, but the interesting thing about her role in "Alice and Steve," at least in the beginning, is SHE PLAYS AGAINST TYPE! Most of Nicola Walker's roles are serious, often with a hint of darkness. But in the beginning of "Alice and Steve" she's positively FRIVOLOUS! It's a revelation, the range she's demonstrating, and unlike with our American hero, Meryl Streep, she doesn't eclipse the role, she fades/blends right into it. As for Steve... Felice immediately recognized him from "Flight of the Conchords." I must say I've never seen that. But Jermaine Clement as Steve radiates the vibe of a less outrageous Austin Powers. He walks between the verge of drama and comedy, you're not quite sure whether you're going to wince or laugh and he might be sliding into a New Zealand accent here and there, but my radar on accents is not that good, you'll decide. As for the main plot line... It's been everywhere but I'm not going to lay it out here. Felice went in raw and her experience was different from mine, so I believe you're best going in fresh, but even if you know the set-up, it doesn't detract from your enjoyment. Now the thing about comedy is it's hard to do. And I don't know, with so many offerings I find recently it's been hard for me to stick with a show, to be entranced right away so I continue watching. I don't want my viewing to be a chore, just the opposite, I want it to be THE PEAK OF MY LIFE! Now "Alice and Steve" gets funny in the first episode, but it reaches its peak in the second. Marcia Warren as Val, Nicola Walker's mother... She's a fount of wisdom and in many ways laissez-faire and more hip than Alice. That's the thing about oldsters, some become set in their ways and others go in the opposite direction, they've seen the movie, been to the circus, and it has liberated them to be in the moment and speak their truth. And when Val nods off while the shenanigans are ensuing...I laugh just thinking about it, it's these little touches that put a show over the top. (And speaking of touches, when I saw Alice drinking Coke for breakfast I was thrilled, because I do. But when I saw a Coke pointing face-out when the fridge was opened, I realized it was probably a paid placement. Why, how much cash could this generate?) So it's the clash between generations that really got me going, both knowledge and mores. You've got Rome, who knows all the answers, even though she's only a teenager, showing up everybody else in the room. You've been there. But then there's the issue of cancellation. Steve drops a reference to a cultural hero who is now a pariah and the kids pooh-pooh and then excoriate him. And to watch him squirm is exquisite, Steve doesn't realize he can't possibly say the right thing. First he tries to argue his position, saying there was not absolute proof, but there's proof enough for the younger generation! Now "Alice and Steve," unlike "Berlin and the Lady With an Ermine," has gotten a good amount of press. If you pay attention to these things, and I do, because I'm always ferreting out what to watch next, you're aware of it. Now if "Alice and Steve" were on Netflix, it would have the impact of "The Four Seasons," but it's on Hulu (it's also on Disney+, the two are supposed to merge, it's so confusing...), which doesn't have the same cachet, never mind an equal number of subscribers. Will I tell you to sign up for one of these two services just to watch "Alice and Steve"? Well, before you do that, you should get Paramount+ to watch "The Bureau," which in terms of sheer quality is a solid A on an absolute scale (not the one employed at Harvard, where everybody gets an A). I saw it on a different service, I've never even watched Paramount+, although I do think we get a free ad-supported version with cable. However ,"The Bureau" is drama. But if you already have Hulu or Disney+, check out "Alice and Steve," it's six half hour episodes. If this was an American show it would be the talk of the town. Then again, Americans can't do this kind of show, either it's too broad or stars famous people who trump the plot or... I'm looking forward to more laughing tonight! What does "Reader's Digest" say, laughter is the best medicine? -- 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

Siri AI

But will it work? Apple presentations are not the must see TV they were in the Steve Jobs era, if for no other reason than the lack of...one more thing... But those presentations were live, ever since Covid, Apple prerecords, which eliminates mistakes, but sucks the life out of the presentation. It's kind of like music. You can fix it in the studio, but in the process do you eliminate all the energy, everything that makes it appealing? People are imperfect, and that's how they like their art, that allows them to relate, whereas they expect their products to work out of the box, seamlessly. Unlike the original Siri that was launched with the iPhone 4s, back in 2011. It was a novelty, if you're still using it, you're one of the few. Now the buzzword today is AI, i.e. artificial intelligence, and conventional wisdom is Apple is behind the 8-ball, that it missed the window. But historically Apple doesn't create totally new products, it refines what's out there in a way that engenders mass appeal via usability, never mind filling a desired function. So, owning the AI platform, is that where the money lies, or..? We can debate all day long whether these AI platforms can make money in the short term, or whether their burn rate will cause them to go out of business or be sold to another company. Then again, there are enterprises like Meta, which is doing quite well despite the billions lost on virtual reality. In other words, if Meta's AI dreams don't pan out, the company can survive. But AI-only companies like Open AI and Anthropic? It's unclear. Never mind the AI backlash. It's NIMBYISM on steroids. No one wants a data farm in their neighborhood, never mind the incredible electricity drain. Ireland just passed a law that new AI data centers must provide their own electricity, after the existing farms ate up one third of the nation's power. And then there's the end of the world scenario. The University of Toronto just revealed the possibility of the easy creation of AI worms, that could penetrate existing systems... Maybe these same AI agents can get rid of spam e-mail while they're at it, which has clogged our inboxes for thirty years now. And for these thirty years when the mainstream public has been computing, conversing on the internet, the primary means of communication has been text. To the point where if you call someone from the younger generation...they probably won't pick up and they won't even let you leave a message, and if you're allowed to do so, they won't check it. This burgeoning use of text has been overlooked by those who lament the past focus on reading and books. But just like the younger generations now know more news as a result of the internet, they're writing and reading more too. But will this survive? YouTube now eclipses Netflix usage. In other words, the lunatics have taken over the asylum, individual content creation rules. But what I want to focus on here is the power of the moving image. For all the talk of Substack monetization, that's for Luddites, the real money for creators is on YouTube. And this creeping emphasis on video has changed the podcast landscape. Now it's about blockbusters with a concurrent video stream, which costs more money to do well. In other words, it's just like in music, everybody can make a video podcast, but very few can make money doing so, there are very few winners. So as video eats text, will AI come along to supersede the conventional computing platforms, from the smartphone to the tablet to the computer? That's the concept behind AI. Can you just talk to your device to get answers, to get your work done. According to today's WWDC presentation, Apple says you can. Now if everything Apple promises is delivered, the company will have triumphed. Because it's Apple that has the relationship with the ultimate customer. Google may dominate search, but it pays billions to be the preferred engine on the iPhone. (Once again, distribution is everything.) Will AI companies have to pay to play on Apple devices? Right now with all the mania on the AI development companies, this is not the case, but in the future? That's the history of the personal computer, what once was a standalone product with its own revenue stream becomes a feature. Once spellcheck was a separate app, today it's built into your word processor, has been for a very long time. The consolidators triumph. So the key here is usability. Is Apple's new Siri going to drive usage? We live in a very different world today. There are no instruction manuals, no lessons, you just dive in and figure it out. This is how people interact with video games. But if the lift is too heavy, the product fails. So not only does Siri AI have to work, it has to be easy to use. But if it does work and it is as easy to use as demonstrated in today's presentation we are at the beginning of a giant revolution. After AOL got everybody on the internet, the next triumphs were hardware-based, the iPod, the iPhone... Everybody keeps looking for new hardware, like the inane AI pin devices, as if we're going to go back to individual items when a product that consolidates all these uses, like the smartphone, triumphs. And then there are smart glasses. They have been percolating for years, but adoption has still been minimal. But if Apple gets into the field as rumored... But is the future just talking to your device? That is what Apple previewed today. Screw all those apps, all that cross-referencing, all that selection, AI will do it for you. Choose what photos to send to your friends. Plan events and alert invitees. Sure, all your data has to be on the device to begin with to collate, but that data can now be sourced from your questions and actions. And then there's the data from Google's Gemini. Despite all the complaints about AI search results, the bottom line is most people don't go beyond them. Remember all those search optimization efforts? Doesn't seem to matter where you appear in the results, because no one looks, they just trust the AI result, despite the present hallucination rate. Siri AI will eliminate steps. It will get the information for you sans typing, sans going from app to app and exploring. And you will save time. Assuming it works. -- 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

More Wind Of Change Podcast

1 Klaus Meine is intelligent and articulate. So if you listen to the "Wind of Change" podcast, and I recommend that you do, they eventually confront Klaus Meine regarding the CIA's theoretical participation in the creation of the Scorpions song. Now living through the eighties, the only "metal" band that really got respect was Guns N' Roses, whose credibility has been eviscerated by Axl Rose's facelift and the squandering of the band's recording impact through delay and... As for the rest of the acts... It ended up being a formula. Now some, like Van Halen, had success before MTV. But do we consider Van Halen metal anyway? I wouldn't. But if you look at the acts that played the Moscow Music Peace Festival... Skid Row may still be on the road, but sans Sebastian Bach, they've lost what made them rise above to begin with. Then again, despite having model good looks, Bach was a hothead and the whole enterprise looked like adolescence on steroids. (However, I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I love "I Remember You.") Mötley Crüe? The band may have had commercial success, but it never got respect. One could actually say their travails were equivalent to a "Real Housewives" franchise. As for a standout track... You don't hear their music played by anybody but fans these days. Ozzy? Somewhere along the line, Ozzy became a legend. Let's leave it at that. And Bon Jovi made that one phenomenal album with Bruce Fairbairn, "Slippery When Wet," who died before they could reunite in the studio, and the band never quite reached that height again, but it sustained, and now "Wanted Dead or Alive" is a veritable standard (helped along by "The Deadliest Catch," although the song was already embedded in the public consciousness). Never underestimate Jon Bon Jovi's good looks, and in addition, the band represented a younger generation, taking over the airwaves from the rockers who'd triumphed in the sixties and seventies. And the Scorpions? They were GERMAN! All I am saying is when you look back at eighties hard rock, you don't think credibility, you think excess and entertainment, good times. However, these acts had light years more impact upon society than any of today's musical stars. That's what I realized listening to this podcast. 2 There are ultimately two issues in the "Wind of Change" podcast, and neither of them involve the question of the CIA's involvement in the Scorpions song. a. How America has turned into Russia b. The techniques and credibility of the CIA. Let me try to nail this... The Russian government trades in conspiracy theories, its goal is to keep its public from knowing, never mind investigating, the truth. It is constantly spreading falsehoods...starting by allowing Putin to escape accountability for the Second Chechen War at the advent of his tenure. When confronted with the concept of the CIA being involved in the creation of the Scorpions' "Wind of Change," a Russian woman who was associated with the band's gigs in the U.S.S.R. doesn't believe it's true for even a second, but does think that the CIA could have spread the rumor. And when this woman continues and the story is played out... Let me get your knickers in a twist. Conventional wisdom is that Covid started from a Chinese lab leak. But this is untrue. No one knows for sure, but the experts still believe it came from a wet market. Yet as soon as Trump got back into office, he had an edict issued declaring the lab leak theory true. And you've got the right wing propaganda machine reinforcing this falsehood. Hell, we saw the president spewing untruths on NBC yesterday, with seeming impunity. America is now the land of conspiracy theories. It is said in this podcast that the Russians hoped that their country would turn into the U.S., they couldn't foresee the U.S. turning into Russia. Which is what has happened. As for the CIA... Untrustworthy and double-dealing, it's a fount of misdirection and misinformation. And you learn all this in the "Wind of Change" podcast, which is not only very informative, but easy to listen to. 3 So, like I stated above, the MTV acts who appeared at the Moscow Music Peace Festival would mainly be considered entertainment. However, listening to this podcast, you can see they had influence. People in Russia trading illegal Scorpions tapes... I ask you, is anybody in an oppressed nation trading Dua Lipa tapes? BTS? Taylor Swift? There's nothing there. Entertainment for acolytes that exists in a walled garden. Those who don't care don't want to care and there's no reason for them to care. Because there's no underlying meaning. It's mostly entertainment for the brain dead. Mindless. Now of course it was different in the sixties. Music moved the culture. But listening to this podcast I was stunned to realize how powerful MTV was. We think of its ability to make musical acts international successes, we tend not to look at its cultural power. It was a youth marketing platform. And even though the acts wanted to get rich, they were all anti-establishment, at least to a degree. They didn't, they wouldn't, comport with cultural norms. Selling out to corporations? Who'd want to be involved with these people? These acts didn't have brand extensions, it was them and their music and that was it. Sure, they sold t-shirts, but they were emblematic of fans' belief in them. It wasn't a rip-off enterprise. And if it wasn't related to music, they didn't do it, they didn't even think of doing it, because they wanted to live the rock and roll lifestyle, before the smartphone camera, when sex and drugs and alcohol...that's why you did it! These were renegades. As soft as they appeared back then, compared to today's acts the gulf is laughable. As for the Scorpions... Klaus Meine speaks English with more thought and analysis than seemingly all in today's Spotify Top 50, AND IT'S HIS SECOND LANGUAGE! We used to hang on the words of our musical heroes. Now we pay attention to their antics, but why would we listen to these commercial nincompoops? 4 So the monoculture is history. MTV took the power of rock and roll and supercharged it. And then mostly abandoned music when it was discovered that half hour programs got much better ratings than endless music videos. You might switch the channel if you saw a video that didn't appeal to you, but that was far less likely if you were watching "Remote Control" or "Cribs" or the rest of the lifestyle product featured. One could actually argue that MTV was a harbinger of today's fame for nothing culture. Then again, MTV did change cultural mores... MTV did more for racial integration/harmony than any book or movie or... It was nearly as positive as the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Black people were featured right along whites, and they were stars and... There were gay people too, like Pedro Zamora, the "Real World" cast member who died of AIDS. And then it all devolved into the internet era. A Balkanization of power and ideas. All those angry that they could not triumph previously decried intelligence and expertise and planted their own flags and ultimately made the landscape incomprehensible. You can't break an act. Then again, are the acts worth breaking, is the issue that more people are not listening to certain songs or that they don't want to? I'd posit the latter. Which begs the question of whether we're at the tipping point of a renaissance, because the mercenary music business is so far from the ideals and power of songs, it has followed commerce into if not irrelevance, meaninglessness. 5 As for the CIA's involvement in the Scorpions' "Wind of Change," I leave you with this: Bob, I'm asking that my name be withheld because I don't need the "hate mail" that will inevitable follow. I was in the room when Klaus came up with the idea for "Wind of Change". In fact, I was a fly-on-the wall, from its inception to its completion, and I was one of the first two or three people to hear the song.  Furthermore, I played keyboards on the demo ... and also on the final album version, recorded at Keith Olsen's Sound City Studios in California. This "CIA" thing is preposterous!  Ridiculous!  Anyone who claims otherwise wasn't there! There's a great story about a fan once approaching George Harrison, and saying:  "I have a rare bootleg recording of The Beatles rehearsing.  Would you like me to make you a copy?".  And George replied (try to imagine his laconic Liverpool accent), "I don't need to hear it ... I was THERE!". Well ... I was there when "Wind of Change" was written and demo'd ... in my home studio! I can say, with certainty -- I do not recall any CIA agents being present! -- 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