The Acquired Podcast

https://www.acquired.fm I'd never heard of it. Then again, doing a bit of research I found it was blown up by the "Wall Street Journal," and I read that pretty comprehensively. Then again, I might not have found the headline appealing: "The Smartest People in the Room Are All Listening to the Same Podcast - How did Acquired become the business world’s favorite show?" https://www.wsj.com/business/media/acquired-podcast-tech-business-history-strategy-90e73603 You see I never went to business school. Where I went to college they didn't even have business classes. Business was taboo, at least until you graduated. But now business is the most exciting vertical out there, it trumps music, movies, television... Just look at the AI story. Now my eyes roll into the back of my head when I hear business school speak. As soon as someone tells me they're writing up a business plan, I'm out. I run on emotion. Does something feel good. If it does, if you're willing to dedicate all your time to it, it will be a success. Sure, vision is important, but execution trumps idea every day of the week. I used to judge people for being out of the loop. But that paradigm died with the internet. There's so much available that no one can be comprehensive. Not that people still don't put you down for not knowing about something. I laugh when this happens. This is how people feel superior, and I know how much they don't know. Actually, that's part of getting older, in my late teens and early twenties I knew EVERYTHING! I've been learning how much I don't know ever since. So I found out about the Acquired podcast in e-mail. I'd written about going to Costco and numerous subscribers told me about it. Which indicated to me it was worth checking out. Everything is word of mouth these days, marketing dollars are most often wasted, but even so, unless it's a trusted source, you have to hear the same story more than once to dive in. And I did, and I did. And... Now going back to the top. The two guys who do this podcast are not exactly nobodies from nowhere, but unlike the brand extensions of today's celebrities, they started from zero. With 500 downloads of their first podcast. Now they get in excess of 500,000 per episode and they make millions. They started in 2015. A ten year overnight success. With a who's who of listeners, everybody from Daniel Ek to Eddy Cue. So many would like ear time with those two, but the way you achieve this is by doing something unique in a spectacular fashion. The more successful you are, the less time you have. You can separate the wheat from the chaff. Which is why you can't get the music exec to listen to your demo, not without a story. They need to hear about you from someone else, they need to see numbers, because their time has been wasted so much in the past. And in a supposed attention deficit society, where we keep hearing people have short attention spans, the Acquired podcast goes on for HOURS! And that's one of the great things about it. Unlike too many other podcasts, the hosts are not injecting their personalities. Too often you tune into a conversation between buddies, laughing, talking about what they did over the weekend, and you feel left out. You feel included listening to the Acquired podcast. It seems like a secret society. Unlike too many influencers and wannabe musicians they're not constantly dunning listeners to subscribe and spread the word. When you do this you can't be taken seriously. Either your work stands for itself or... Turns out the Costco podcast is legendary, and it's two hours and fifty three minutes long! That's what people want, a deep dive. They have all the time for that which they deem truly interesting. You may denigrate youngsters for swiping quickly online, but if their attention spans are so short, how come they have streaming marathons, watching hours of "Friends" and other series? But I don't expect the mainstream to glom on to Acquired, because it's not sexy in the usual ways. It's not visual, based on beautiful people. It focuses on people who paid their dues, usually after a boatload of education. The general public doesn't want to hear this. They want it all, and they want it NOW! So as much as I knew about Costco... I learned a ton more. I knew about Sol Price. I even knew about the legendary Fedco. But what I did not know is when Fedco refused to do business with Sol that Price started a company called FedMart! Which was a juggernaut, and that's why we have WalMart and Kmart... They were trying to trade off the success of Sol's FedMart! And the history is deep, and there's all this info about margins... Costco caps its average margin at 11%. Never charges more than 14% to !5% on any item. It's all about the relationship with the customer. Who is incredibly loyal. Bands should listen to this podcast. Everybody talks about the Grateful Dead, but they did it by accident, only in retrospect does it look like a plan for success. Where everybody here took risk, but only after having experience and knowing what they were trying to achieve. And I'd tell you more about the Costco podcast, but I listened it to a week ago and I don't want to get anything wrong. Last night I just finished the Formula 1 podcast. It was four and a half hours long, and I could have listened to another four and a half, not a single lick was boring. Now I'm always wary of reporters, as opposed to those who've lived a subject, when the newspaper calls, beware. Most of the time I'm busy informing the writer of the industry. However these two guys who do the Acquired podcast go VERY deep. If you grew up in the vertical maybe you can quibble, but they know they're starting from zero, but they're fans of the story, they want to know more and more. Now of course there are multi-episode podcasts on one subject that last as long, however... This is old school, it's the same problem HBO and Apple have. They think they're increasing audience by doing this. They couldn't be more wrong. People want it all and they want it now. They want to go deep, they want to marinate, they want to bond with the project and then tell everybody about it. You can be early and own a show that's dropped all at once. You can watch the latest Netflix production when it drops on Friday and then boast about having seen it, you're a number one fan, you're hard core. But by time "White Lotus" drips out its episodes weeks later everybody's on the same plane, in a world where we're all looking for status. Acquired is a club. A pretty large one, but nowhere near as big as those who rule the Spotify Top 50. However, Acquired has a better batting average than the Spotify Top 50. They don't whiff. And they do it all themselves, except for the addition of an editor. This is what the internet affords, the electronic tools, you can do it and distribute it and if it's great, people will find it. Eventually. Eleven years, that's how long ago Acquired was started. Imagine telling a musician they've got to wait eleven years to reach critical mass. But that's the new game. You start off the radar screen, you refine your act in public and when you finally get it right you gain hard core fans that spread the word. That's your business plan, period. People want something more quantified, with success much earlier in the game. But almost everything that rises instantly falls just about as fast, that's what MTV taught us. Acquired is the sh*t. Check it out, it's not flashy, but once you start listening, you cannot stop. -- 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

Still More Favorite Solo Song From A Band Member-SiriusXM This Week

Tune in July 4th to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West. If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app. Search: Lefsetz -- 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

Album Airplay/40-July 2, 1976

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1rqrVFhJSyrKqPHUlknvAh?si=1811da63db184ba7 1. Steve Miller "Fly Like an Eagle" He hadn't put out an album in nearly three years and by this point no one was waiting, it appeared he'd fallen off the radar screen. After 1973's smash "The Joker," all we got was crickets. "Fly Like an Eagle" was different from what came before, short songs all radio friendly. It is this album and 1977's "Book of Dreams" that have sold tickets for Miller ever since. The initial radio track was "Take the Money and Run," which immediately hooked the listener. It had an upbeat sound foreign to today's depressed era. We get hedonism today, but very little optimism. From there the label went to "Rock'n Me" to the title track and it was truly astounding, Miller had come back with a vengeance, truly bigger than ever. 2. Steely Dan "The Royal Scam" Steely Dan had an up and down career commercially. The initial LP was an instant smash, as a result of the singles "Do It Again" and "Reelin' in the Years." Despite being the favorite of the cognoscenti, the follow-up "Countdown to Ecstasy" had no hit singles and not much commercial impact. But then came "Pretzel Logic," which had "Rikki Don't Lose That Number," which was ubiquitous, this sleeker, more jazz-oriented Dan was bigger than ever. However, 1975's "Katy Lied" failed to produce a hit single and is talked about very little these days, but I love that album. I know every lick of 1976's "The Royal Scam" because I drove from Utah to Connecticut with it in the Blaupunkt, along with five other brand new albums. At this late date "Kid Charlemagne" is well-known, but back then not so much. My favorite cut on the album is "Don't Take Me Alive": "I'm a bookkeeper's son I don't want to hurt no one Well I crossed my old man back in Oregon Don't take me alive" A bookkeeper is anything but a desperado, and with a specific state mentioned, the story becomes 3-D. Of course, this is the album with "Everything You Did," where the desperadoes themselves are mentioned: "Turn up the Eagles the neighbors are listening" 3. Jeff Beck "Wired" Jeff was riding high after the surprise success of "Blow By Blow, "Wired" was not as good, yet Beck still had relevance, but more on the turntable than the radio, I'm surprised by this high chart position, I don't remember hearing this stuff on the radio. 4. James Taylor "In the Pocket" The second collaboration with Lenny Waronker and Russ Titelman, "In the Pocket" was a little less upbeat. But there are some amazing tracks. I used to point everyone to "Shower the People" all these years later, it was a hit, but ultimately it was deep and truthful, it was this insight we wanted from our artists: "Once you tell somebody The way that you feel You can feel it beginning to ease I think it's true what they say About the squeaky wheel Always getting the grease" But the true height of the album comes on the second side, the trilogy of "Captain Jim's Drunken Dream" to "Don't Be Sad 'Cause Your Sun Is Down" to "Nothing Like a Hundred Miles" "There's nothing like a hundred miles between me and trouble in my mind" Ain't that the truth. Then again, used to be when you drove that distance you were truly disconnected, not anymore. But the piece-de-resistance is: "Up here I'm a whisky bum but down there I'm a king" You're a king in one place, but it doesn't mean anything when you take the fish out of water. 5. Chicago "X" Really? By this point they were really a Top 40 band. Where they had a presence with Peter Cetera's "If You Leave Me Now." The days of the hard-charging debut were gone, the edges had been shorn off. 6. Carly Simon "Another Passenger" It had her version of the Doobie Brothers "It Keep You Runnin'," and "Radio & Records" was the Bible, but I never heard this album on the coasts, where I lived. 7. Marshall Tucker Band "Long Hard Ride" They'd moved in a more country direction, but they still had a presence on AOR. 8. Aerosmith "Rocks" They were truly back in the saddle, with a monster album that followed up "Toys in the Attic." From there it was downhill until the Geffen days. 9. Gordon Lightfoot "Summertime Dream" This is the one with "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," but despite his folk pedigree, by this point AOR rocked harder and Gord was seen as a Top 40 act, where he had some big successes. 10. Wings "At the Speed of Sound" The worst of the three, the trilogy from "Band on the Run" to "Venus and Mars" to this. "Venus and Mars" is unduly overlooked, it might be lighter than "Band on the Run," but it's a great summer album, I love it. All the attention was on "Silly Love Songs," but it was the album tracks that make this LP. "Beware My Love" and "Time to Hide and "Warm and Beautiful." McCartney had peaks, but he has never been consistently this good since. 11. Firefall "Firefall" They had their moment, but if you weren't there, you don't know, never mind remember. 12. "Southside Johnny" "I Don't Want to Go Home. Springsteen had broken through and he tried to pull Southside Johnny over the transom, however... It was really a good bar band, a really good bar band, but that was it. This was the debut, the title track especially is very good, but with all the hype and the ultimate disappointment, despite more albums, the general public moved on from Southside Johnny. 13. Rolling Stones "Black and Blue" I don't think you could get away with that title today, never mind the bondage billboard. This was a hodgepodge, trying out different replacements for Mick Taylor before they settled on Ronnie Wood and surprised everybody with 1978's "Some Girls." I never liked the single "Fool to Cry," but there are two great tracks on this album, "Memory Motel" has been resurrected as a result of the live duet with Dave Matthews, but "Hand of Fate" still has not gotten the recognition it deserves. 14. Grateful Dead "Steal Your Face" The last LP on the band's own label, it was neither a gigantic seller nor a big radio presence, despite this high chart number. Then again, it had just been released on June 26th. 15. Blue Oyster Cult "Agents of Fortune" This is the one with "(Don't Fear) The Reaper," but in truth, it was all downhill from the debut, which was MARVELOUS! 16. Doobie Brothers "Takin It to the Streets" This was the first LP with Michael McDonald, and although good, it was a complete change from what had come before. Tom Johnston was barely on it, and then left the group. The band soldiered on and then surprised everybody by resurfacing with "Minute by Minute" two albums later, in 1978 17. Boz Scaggs "Silk Degrees" To say this was unexpected... You have no idea how big this album was unless you were conscious back then. It was the favorite of women, they bought it and played it in their apartments and...you heard it everywhere. One can argue it's so good because of David Paich's songwriting chops. Expectations were high for the follow-up, "Down Two Then Left," however...sans Paich, it just didn't hit the mark, and Boz never reached anywhere near these heights again. But for a moment there... 18. George Benson "Breezin'" This is when he gained mainstream success, you can attribute the subsequent infiltration of soft jazz to this album, even though Benson had cred, a lot of dreck followed him. With this album, George became a household name. 19. Thin Lizzy "Jailbreak" This is the one with "The Boys Are Back in Town." And after that they dropped off the radio and never returned. 20. Todd Rundgren "Faithful" The first side proved Rundgren's chops as a producer, player and engineer, but side two of the LP, the one with the originals, was the heart of the album. "Love of the Common Man" and "The Verb 'To Love'" are excellent. 21. Peter Frampton "Frampton Comes Alive!" He'd already come alive on AOR, the summer of '76 is when he penetrated Top 40. 22. Heart "Dreamboat Annie" Unknown act on an unknown label produced by an unknown producer in Vancouver, far from the beaten track. But all you had to do was hear it. Kinda like "More Than a Feeling" later in the year. This album had actually come out in 1975, but it was still being played. The one-two punch of "Crazy on You" to "Magic Man"...who were these people! They had a soft side, but really they were straight ahead rockers, overnight they were part of the firmament. I've got a half-speed mastered vinyl album of this recording, it's FANTASTIC, which is surprising, you wouldn't expect such clarity considering the people who made it and where they made it. 23. Andy Pratt "Resolution" I bought it, but really it was about the 1973 Columbia debut with "Avenging Annie," he never reached those heights again, either in quality or sales. He came from a rich family... 24. Jethro Tull "Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die" After the blues-influenced debut with Mick Abrahams the audience loved Tull, but the critics never did. Even at this late date, the act was getting airplay, especially with the title track of this LP, but they'd burned out the audience with "A Passion Play," which was a redo of the concept of the previous breakthrough "Thick as a Brick," but not as good. You can only stunt once, do not repeat yourself. And then, in 1987, an album that whose tracks were picked by focus group, was all over the airwaves. It was "Crest of a Knave" that won the metal Grammy everybody thought Metallica deserved. Ian Anderson didn't even go to the ceremony, but somehow he's been tarred by the inanity of the Grammy voters. I mean it wasn't his fault. Tull still gets no respect, but it deserves it. But the same critics who pooh-poohed the band refuse to induct it into the Rock Hall. Wankers... 25. Spirit "Farther Along" The band had broken in two, and despite a good track here and there, neither the latter-day Spirit nor Jo Jo Gunne really had any commerciality. Once again, as is the case with a lot of the unsuccessful records in this chart, this album had just been released, and stations were giving it some spins before they dropped it. 26. Jay Ferguson "All Alone in the End Zone" Did you know he became a soundtrack composer when the hits dried up? Jo Jo Gunne had broken up. This album was not highly anticipated and it did not sell. No one foresaw the success of "Thunder Island" the following year. 27. City Boy "City Boy" The act had some success in the U.K., got some reviews over here, I actually bought it, but it's the backstory that makes this album interesting. Clive Calder, Ralph Simon and Mutt Lange left South Africa where they'd been cutting soundalike records and dropping them before their official releases to come to London and play in the big leagues. Produced by Mutt, this was the beginning of the juggernaut, not that anybody knew it back then. 28. Billy Joel "Turnstiles" It had come out in May, and if you think Billy meant much on rock radio after "Piano Man," you're misinformed or delusional. He did get some airplay with "The Entertainer," and "Los Angelenos" from the second Columbia LP, but by the time of this third, Billy was making his bones on the road. It wasn’t until he hooked up with Phil Ramone on the following year's "The Stranger" that he became the Billy Joel revered today. "Turnstiles" suffers from Billy's production and less than crystal clear engineering...the sound may not be right, but there are some FANTASTIC songs on this. This is the LP with "New York State of Mind," which may be a standard now, but was not a single back then. And it also has "Summer, Highland Falls" and "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway," and I'd say I'd have liked to have seen Billy rerecord "Turnstiles" with Ramone, but in reality he did, on 1981's "Songs in the Attic." There they truly come alive, it's Billy's best work. 29. Santana "Amigos" It was over, sans the original band most people were not paying attention. 30. Tubes "Young and Rich" A grave disappointment after their Al Kooper-produced debut the previous year, but it does include "Don't Touch Me There." 31. Charlie Daniels "Saddle Tramp" This was back when he was still a rocker, before "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" and the turn to country. He'd had "The South's Gonna Do It" from two albums before, from "Fire on the Mountain," but I don't remember this album having any presence on rock radio. 32. Jerry Jeff Walker "It's a Good Night for Singin'" I think even Jerry Jeff would be surprised he's this high on the chart. 33. Fleetwood Mac "Fleetwood Mac" Other than the Frampton album, this is the biggest LP on the chart. But it took a long time to percolate in the marketplace, yet despite being released nearly a year and a half earlier, this music was still regularly played on the radio. 34. Ben Sidran "Free in America" Clive Davis had actually given him a major label deal. But Clive couldn't make Ben a household name. 35. Harry Nilsson "...That's the Way It Is" The way it was was Harry had blown out his voice on 1974's "Pussy Cats" and although that album sold on his name... Once bitten, twice shy. 36. Bob Marley & the Wailers "Rastaman Vibration" He didn't live up to the hype, true Jamaican reggae had not gone mainstream. Johnny Nash and Paul Simon had hits, but Bob Marley was not a household name. But he ultimately became one, with the release of "Live" in the U.S. "One good thing about music When it hits, you feel no pain" 37. Leon & Mary Russell "Wedding Album" Leon had seemed to lose the plot, we read about him, but we didn't listen to him. 38. Chris Hillman "Slippin' Away" I bought this album, other than Andy Somers, I don't know anybody else who did. It's actually pretty good! 39. Toot & the Maytals "Reggae Got Soul" I did hear the title track on the radio, but Toots never really broke big up here. 40. Sons of Champlin "Circle Filled with Love" All you've got to know is this album came out on Ariola America, after the band was on Capitol and Columbia. Bill had his greatest success with Chicago. https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Archive-RandR/1970s/1976/RR-1976-07-02.pdf -- 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 NeXT Book

"Steve Jobs in Exile: The Untold Story of NeXT and the Remaking of an American Visionary": https://shorturl.at/WlVgS This is a painful read, at least until NeXT pivots to WebObjects and revenue starts coming in. Yes, this book chronicles Steve Jobs's time in the wilderness, in between his two stints at Apple. And it hasn't been documented to this degree before, not really ever. We know NeXT failed and was ultimately rescued by Apple, but... Everything you've heard about Steve Jobs is evidenced here. He demands absolute loyalty and even that is not enough to keep you safe from his wrath. But it's even worse, he's delusional! Not only promising impossibilities, but categorically unable to see the landscape. Known as a visionary, he's got very little vision here. One can debate whether there was a need for the NeXT computer, a $3000 workstation for universities, but it ended up costing more than 10k. Even worse, by time it hit the market, much of its innovation had already been adopted by competitors. But Jobs refuses seemingly every olive branch. He won't sell to the government... They don't usually write books like this. Nonfiction is either about winners or utter tragedies, and this is neither. I mean yes, Jobs comes back to Apple at the end, but that's a sliver of the overall book. Which is not hard to read. But you will be stunned how it all happened so long ago. Hardware has been superseded by software. Unless you were paying attention back then, does anybody remember Gil Amelio? Even John Sculley? And that's another point the author makes, how this history is not well-documented, so many people who were there have passed and so much has been thrown out/destroyed, even legal documents. So the author, Geoffrey Cain, deserves kudos. There have been tons of books about Apple and Steve Jobs, but none about NeXT. And the truth is you'll learn a lot more lessons reading this book of failure than the ones of triumph. Then again, Jobs admits he needed that failure to evolve into the person he became. A big turning point is when he has kids. He suddenly gets it. His priorities change, a little. He can see that his employees need time off. He mellows. So... Ultimately this is a very good business book, but who is going to read it? I cracked it because I'm one of the Apple faithful, I wanted to fill out my mental history. But even I had a hard time continuing at times, because Jobs keeps shooting himself in the foot. So if you devour everything Apple, I recommend this book. I only wish wannabe business people would read it. But it's almost too depressing to get through. But when you see a guy f*ck up this bad... It teaches you how not to behave. And it also teaches you that people can change. But some do not. However, the lore is true, when the prodigal son returns to Apple he's been wizened by his losses. He's mellowed just enough to get along with people. Furthermore, he's learned lessons about the computer world, which continues to evolve. He re-evaluated his priorities. This is something you rarely see today, whether it be in business or in government, people questioning their actions and behavior. Everybody doubles down, trying to win via intimidation. But it didn't work for Steve Jobs, and he had a lot of tools in his belt. He was smart, he was there at the beginning of the computer revolution, but even he couldn't see where it was going. Oh, he saw a few things, but those were not enough to save NeXT. People will read the Walter Isaacson book, but you'll learn more about Steve Jobs in this book. Assuming you care. And even Jobs says this. That today's tech is built on the foundation of yesterday's, and those who created yesterday's are forgotten. But Steve had a run. And if you were there, it was mesmerizing, and fulfilling. But what was he doing before he made the turn? How bad did it have to get for him to see the light? This book tells you. -- 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 Bear-Final Season

Spoiler alert: I don't reveal everything, but if you want to be fresh when you watch this series, beware. This was a painful watch. If I hadn't invested my time in the previous seasons, I would have stopped. This is what happens when art supersedes plot. You see this most in literature today. Which tend not to sell anyway. So the intelligentsia, those with MFAs, try to impress each other by rewriting to the point that the prose is nearly incomprehensible and story becomes secondary. As if usage of words and analogies and similes make a great book. They don't. And historically this has been the great thing about TV, it's cheap and therefore fast. The quintessential example being soap operas, which are almost all plot. So the problem with most of this latest season of "The Bear" is NOTHING HAPPENS! You get these artistic images, moments of no dialogue which are supposed to represent the pathos of the actors but just bores us to death. So what we've got here is one complete day at the Bear, the fine dining restaurant. Except for the last episode, which is a coda. Wrapping things up, but not really. Where was Claire during all the previous episodes? And is Carmy really going to be an intern for an architectural firm? I mean you can quit your job, but at this age you don't become an intern, never mind you need education to be an architect. I mean take a time out, but... And did I miss a memo? How come when the restaurant gets two stars Sydney gets the accolades? Wasn't it Carmy's restaurant? Oliver Platt as Uncle Jimmy is the best thing about the show. But we're supposed to believe he's lost all his money? The financially-savvy relative who everybody goes to for advice? He's going to put all his money at risk at once? I don't think so. As for Jamie Lee Curtis as mom Donna... A little goes a very long way. Her frenzied approach demonstrated the character's craziness in that holiday episode in season 2, but now you just wince when she gets screen time, she's overacting. So with all the odds against them, the rain outside, the burst pipes, the lack of food as a result of being cut off by suppliers for lack of cash, is the assembled multitude, this ragtag bunch of misfits, going to be able to serve dinner tonight? It's akin to the Little Rascals putting on a show. And you feel like you were in the restaurant all day. And why were those customers in the kitchen so long? Yes, Richie got them to give up their table, but now they're in the kitchen for hours? Of course it all works out, this is TV and this is the final season! However... They'd have been better off not making this season at all. Letting the series lie fallow until everybody was hyped up again. That's what they do in the U.K. I'm completely flummoxed (my word of the week) how all the critics are giving this latest season kudos. Not only is it the worst one, it's almost unwatchable. Watching it is like being locked up in prison for a day. Yes, the series does start to heat up a bit a little over halfway through, and the actual service of dinner at least flows, it's watchable, but... They were so busy trying to create prestige TV that they lost touch with the fundamentals. First and foremost people have to want to watch a show, and this was my most painful watch in memory. I mean speed it up, have more happen. Enough silence with facial expressions. I get it, you're conveying heaviness, if not gravitas, but it shouldn't go on for episode after episode. This series was once great. But it's gone off the rails. As if the hosannas got to the creators. Television is not that complicated. On the comparatively small screen it's all about plot, story supersedes image. I wish someone had enforced this obvious truth during the production of the last season of this series. -- 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

Democratic Socialists

This is not the way I expected it to go down. I expected revolution first, not the system working. But I still don't believe in the system, not anymore. But one thing's for sure, it's definitely a case of winners and losers, income inequality has burgeoned, the American Dream is just that...as George Carlin said, you've got to be dreaming to believe it! Now what flummoxes me completely is how the Democratic establishment is so out of touch. How they're exactly what the Republicans describe, elites who think they know better who are looking out for themselves despite giving occasional lip service to the little people. What did they expect, that this would go on forever? That's like believing a band from the sixties will dominate the charts in the twenty first century. That's not the way it works, things change, people's attitudes change. The only enterprise that had this right was MTV, which refused to age with its audience. It scrubbed the deck clean every few years, out with the old veejays, in with the new. And the oldsters complained. Not only that their heroes were gone, but that the new hosts and programming weren't as good... We were used to hearing this from the Greatest Generation, the belief in the Big Band era, the dismissal of those pesky kids. But the bottom line is we never turned back, we only go forward, which is why the MAGA construct is so specious. Kinda like that best seller "Yesteryear," you can't do it, despite the trad wife influencers. So if you don't meet people where they are, hopefully get ahead of them, you will lose them. Politics is not a business of facts, but of hearts and minds. Give Trump credit for realizing this, while the Democrats just promised us more of what we had before. That's how Trump won twice. First Hillary and then Kamala. They were afraid of offending their enablers, their predecessors, they were playing the game when the general public had stopped believing in the game. The right wing trope right now is how there are more members of the upper middle class than ever before. It's voodoo. Trying to get us to deny our own experience. But they've been doing this for years. We watched January 6th on our screens, but they keep saying what we saw wasn't what happened, and the offenders were patriots who deserved freedom. Not only was this untrue, it divorced the general public from the system even more. The story of the last twenty four hours is about Trump's $2 billion income last year. Do I think this will make any difference, do I think this will result in him losing power? Not a lick. I can't even believe he's flying that Qatar 747. Free, my ass. Everybody knows if you get something you owe something, it's Life 101. And we're supposed to believe Qatar just wanted to get rid of it, wanted Trump to take it off their hands? Yeah, right. But the specifics now have no impact, it's a tsunami of B.S. And the public knows it. So what we've got is talking heads, media inured to the establishment, who are positively shocked that Democratic socialists are winning elections. And the way they deal with this is to laugh hysterically, talk about how uninformed the voters are, how the policies of these newly anointed candidates are out of touch with reality. I'm not endorsing so many of their views. The anti-Israel positions scare me in a country where antisemitism is rampant, but emotionally, I get it. They're harnessing the sick and tired populace. Who want to throw a stick in the spokes. Graham Platner... A prep school kid who doesn't know what a Nazi symbol is? Yeah, right. But it no longer matters. That's how much people want to get rid of the wishy-washy ultimately voting with Trump Susan Collins. As far as running a usual suspect... Only the Democratic machine could think that this would work. People want anger, they want edges, they don't want more of the same. So will Democrats take power? Well, the real story going forward is voter interference, taking people off the roles, throwing out ballots. But the funny thing is this time around, Trump is doing it all in public, out front. He does everything this way now. And people feel they have no way to counter him. As far as believing in the Supreme Court... Not only do people no longer believe in politicians, they don't believe in judges either. All those wannabes who refused to say Trump lost the election in 2020? That's bizarroland. And all the excuses. Originalism? Yup, that's what the general public wants to hear, let's make our decisions by trying to look into the minds of two hundred and fifty year old people. Hell, why don't we go back further, to Caesar, Aristotle... Why don't we just text them! In an era where Millennials and Gen-Z think their parents are out of touch, you want them to believe in this Ouija board process? Gimme a break. Yes, the government has lost the youngsters. David Hogg injects a dose of reality into the DNC and he has to resign. His crime was planning to fund primary challenges against incumbent Democrats. But lo and behold, these challengers are winning anyway! We keep hearing the Democratic party is a big tent. But not the DNC! You've got to pay dues, kiss ass, work your way up the system.... That's how we got into this mess! As for the Dems in Congress, they keep saying their hands are tied. Well, Trump's hands are tied but he keeps acting with impunity. The Democrats are akin to Neville Chamberlain, just appease the threat, as long as it's not right on your doorstep. Yup, the elected Democratic officials believe as long as they have their jobs and are getting paid, what's the problem? Where's Churchill when we need him! A sports teams goes on a losing streak and they fire the coach. The Democrats want to run Biden for another term. A faux pas that is still costing them. At least Hillary has gone on record it was a mistake. Until the rest of the Democrats go on record and say this don't expect the electorate to believe them, to go along with them. Now the worst thing about Democratic socialists is the name. They should hire Frank Luntz, who changed the moniker of the estate tax to the death tax, to come up with a new designation. The bottom line is we already have socialism in America, it's right in the name of Social Security! This is not the USSR's communism... Then again, these are the same bubble-dwellers who came up with the phrase "Defund the police." No one wants this! They may want change, but everybody is in favor of law and order, especially those who live in poorer, more dangerous neighborhoods. So what we've got is cable networks debating the meaning of these recent elections. The same ones who didn't foresee these results. They specialize in creating noise, they're rooting for the home team all the time and... Most people don't watch them. And most people don't read the paper. And the younger generations are criticized for being online... Where do you expect them to get their information? If you think they're going back to legacy outlets, you probably don't have a TikTok account. Can these ancient bozos at least meet people where they are? No, all we get is criticism, they know better. Like I said, how could you know better if you've never been on social media? It's like our parents opining about the Beatles, never mind Jimi Hendrix. It's more about feelings than facts. People feel they've been screwed over, they're sick and tired and they don't want to take it anymore, and the only ones promising change are these Democratic socialists, the electorate is willing to overlook so much just to get someone in power who they can relate to, who they think knows them and will speak for them. So what happens going forward? Do these new Democratic socialists all win their seats or does the public think they're too woke and they get decimated. Or even if they get elected, will there be any change? This is the story of today's America. Nobody believes anybody else is thinking about them, caring about them. So they need to take matters into their own hands. What form it takes... This time it's a slate of Democratic socialists. But this is not the last chapter of the story. This illustrates why we play the game. We think we know the result, but we don't know for real until it's over, when we're oftentimes surprised. The Knicks NBA champions? And do you see how the underdogs marshaled the power of not only New York City but so many other citizens of our country? They didn't win with superstars, they just did the hard work and got some breaks. But the Democrats proffer nobody like this. Everybody just says you've got to believe in the system, and we're behind the 8-ball and there's nothing we can do. Want to be in touch with what's coming down the pike? Be on your phone MORE! Get deep into social media. How come these ancient wankers think they know what is going on when they're not even on the playing field. Would you expect to do well on the SAT if you skipped algebra? You've got to do your homework. So what we've got is an establishment, both politicians and old school media, who have contempt for the public and think they know better. When are they going to realize they're out of touch and wrong? Probably only when the younger generations with more compassion take over. That's what's going to happen. Whether through elections or revolution. It's just a matter of when. Unless, of course, Trump and his cronies rig the system to stay in power. Be scared of that. But Trump is not the only enemy. If we want change the old people must go. My generation has had its run. NEXT! -- 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 Dylan/Beatles Book

"Where the Music Had to Go: How Bob Dylan and the Beatles Changed Each Other—and the World": https://www.amazon.com/dp/1668075563?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback There's very little new information in this book, but that does not mean it's not worth reading. Unlike that new Stones book you see reviewed positively everywhere. The publisher asked me if I wanted a copy, I was intrigued from the very first page, but as I'm reading I'm wondering...HOW DOES HE KNOW THAT! Mick and Keith as late teenagers, on a train... Then it occurs to me he got the information from previous writing, since the Glimmer Twins refused to talk to him. WHO IS THIS GUY? So I research and read he wrote a book about Led Zeppelin. How come I've never heard of it? Everybody knows "Hammer of the Gods," people foam at the mouth for new Zeppelin material. But this author released his book to crickets and I'm supposed to read his compilation of previous Stones anecdotes? Not me. Not for 700 pages, not while these guys are still alive and testifying. Have you seen any of the Mick Jagger clips on TikTok? He's promoting the new album and to pique our interest he's testifying about all kinds of stuff we want to know more about. Like Nicky Hopkins. He finally reveals that Nicky composed and played the intro to "She's a Rainbow," talks about working with the piano player, his creative process, Mick says that prior to meeting Nicky he didn't even know there was such a thing as an electric piano. Now at this late date, there's reams of writing on the Beatles, Dylan and the Stones. And there might be some people who've read all of it, but I haven't. I'm not that much of a completist. Which means there is info in this Dylan/Beatles book that I did not know. As for original material? There's a short interview with Paul McCartney at the end, but this is a cut and paste job too. Almost an academic treatise. However, unlike the Stones book, there's an underlying thesis, the ways in which Dylan and the Beatles interacted with each other and influenced each other. And I'll say the author makes his point, there were more points of connection than I thought. And he made me think...he posits that "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" was Dylan-influenced. He says that it was Dylan who got the boys to veer away from love songs and write about life. And you'll learn a bit about the Beatles. Most interesting was John's peccadillos, especially with actress/singer Alma Cogan, who I'd never even heard of! He hated her, but when he became successful and met her... He was married and living with Cynthia, but he was stepping out. And there's an affair at a party, sex behind closed doors that initiates the Lost Weekend... That may be common knowledge, but I did not know it. This casts that period in a new light, for me anyway. Yoko was pissed about this dalliance! Then again, Lennon had a long history of making pronouncements and going against them vociferously just a few years later. Pledging fealty to Yoko, and then stepping out. Paying fealty to Jesus and then retracting it. And with it all laid out here, you can see how many potholes John hit in his solo career, makes you think he needed the other three. Also, the author gained credibility by saying the true solo debut, "John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band," might have gotten good reviews, but it was a commercial stiff. Unlike "All Things Must Pass," it was released after Thanksgiving, and never quite recovered from that late launch. People were overwhelmed with George's work and Stephen Stills's solo debut and the breakthrough of Elton John, a naked album sans single had a rough time in the marketplace. As for George... In retrospect, he had the closest connection with Dylan. Stayed at his house in Bearsville, they were buddies, the groundwork for the Traveling Wilburys is laid out quite well here. But really, you want to read this book to discover the derivation of so many of Dylan's legendary songs. They may have been new to you, but they had history, "Subterranean Homesick Blues" was based on the Chuck Berry song, "Too Much Monkey Business." Dylan just didn't come up with this stuff out of thin air. And all these guys had egos. Which were easily bruised, they were competing, it was not kumbaya. And they were definitely paying attention to each other. And then there's Dylan's "Fourth Time Around," a direct lift of "Norwegian Wood" as payback for John ripping him off, or so Bob thought. And they're all young renegades, pushing for success, but when they get it they become thinkers and they're questioning their paths, contemplating where they're going and what effect it will have. So you will certainly be informed of the connections and influences, but still some of the details, which are cobbled together from other writings, detailed in the notes at the back of the book, are fascinating. Dylan making his way to the Beatles' hotel, dealing with the throngs. And the 1966 tour...the Beatles didn't go clean. Once again, the myth is that the Beatles did boffo at the b.o. until they retired from the stage, this was not true. There were ups and downs, but they soldiered on in the studio. And Paul McCartney sends Dylan a note about an episode of his XM "Theme Time Radio" show... These guys were paying attention to each other. And even Paul is anxious about leaning on Bob, knowing him, but how well exactly? There are all these little scenes, that have obviously been portrayed previously, but I didn't know the details. About Bob recovering from the motorcycle accident at a doctor friend's house... And the more time goes by, the more mortal these guys appear. Dylan wonders if his hold on the hit parade is over. Jeff Lynne modernizes George's sound for the eighties. So, once again, this book is really not breaking new ground except in the delineation of the author's concept. Showing how the two acts crossed paths and influenced each other. But I did not know that Bob Dylan joined a public tour group to go to John Lennon's house. There are all these little tidbits that if you're a Dylanologist, a reader of the Lewisohn books, you might know, but if you haven't made that deep a dive, you'll learn things. It's easy to die young and become and stay a legend. But how do you continue to live, in the public eye all the time, knowing that the odds of equaling your commercial peak are probably behind you? That is addressed too. So if you have an interest in this topic, the comparing and contrasting of these two acts, you'll like this book. Then again, there's more reportage of chance meetings than pure analysis, then again, maybe i's' better that way, you can draw your own inferences and conclusions. It's not a hard read and you can put it down and pick it back up, but what makes it fun is that you know all these songs, they play in your head as you read... And therefore the experience is fulfilling. -- 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

Innovation

I read this article about Tide: "Tide Already Dominates Detergent. Why Is P&G Pushing a New Version? - The company controls about 60% of the market, but won’t stop reinventing. Now, it’s betting the future of laundry is 'tiles.'" https://www.wsj.com/business/tide-laundry-soap-procter-gamble-2938e8b6 https://apple.news/A43i010C7TpOk1pHMBgFdnQ Tide was introduced in 1946, before that Procter & Gamble purveyed Duz and Oxydol, which were juggernauts. Bottom line, the introduction of Tide would kill those two products, and it did. And now, the standard of laundry detergent is those Tide pods. You know, the little two-toned balls that you have to make sure kids don't swallow. But now Tide is introducing these Triscuit-type tiles? They look like a step backward, but the truth is that they couldn't push Tide forward technologically with the pod product. Ergo, the tiles. This whole article is about Procter & Gamble disrupting itself. It's Clayton Christensen's "Innovator's Dilemma" in action. But it's not a young tech company, but an old company selling soap... And this made me think about record labels. Now the labels were disrupted by Napster back at the turn of the century. People predicted their demise, but this never happened, primarily because of their catalogs. And now, more than ever, catalog music, old music, is keeping these now-consolidated companies alive. When it comes to new music, there's no innovation whatsoever. Now I've got to give the majors credit for buying the indie distribution companies, distribution is king, and if you own the pipeline...never mind getting the data, you can amplify that which gains traction. But as far as building it from scratch? The major labels are categorically unable to do that. They OWNED new music production, but now they can't break an act and the indies keep gaining market share. So what do the major labels do? Cut staff and release fewer and fewer records in ever more dwindling categories. Sure they'll tell you they work DSPs, do their best on social media, but they've still got big radio departments, to a great degree it's the same as it ever was. They're resting on their laurels when they need to disrupt themselves in order to maintain their power. And they're not, which is why they're losing power. Today lasting acts are built on the road. Live Nation is in the artist development business more than any major label. But the major labels could change course. Instead of waiting for acts to break themselves, to make noise on social media, gain a following, major labels could search out great talent. They're not even in this business today, it's all commerce all the time. It's kind of like the movie studios who are focused on superheroes and horror, they're not serving up anything for so much of the public, especially oldsters. But records are so much cheaper to make. So labels should be searching out talent that is...TALENTED! New and different. And commit to these acts for a period of time and product, it used to be five albums over five years. So that the act can evolve and people can gravitate to them. You don't hear a single? Forget the single. The single has never had less of the market. The focus should be on careers, acts testing limits, innovative musicians who have something to say. No one is absolutely sure what will catch on with the audience, which is why you have to take risk. But today the majors are risk averse. They're just protecting their market share doing it the way they always have, the opposite of Procter & Gamble and Tide. And P&G has so many people working in R&D, after all this represents the future. Meanwhile, if it doesn't contribute to the bottom line immediately, the major label has excised it. The major labels need more A&R people. Not paid that much, who penetrate scenes, go on the hunt for new trends, who get their finger on the pulse, who sign thinking artists who will push the envelope. Look at it like Netflix. It became a behemoth by putting out a plethora of product. Netflix puts out a comedy special a week. HBO? Every once in a while. And now Netflix owns comedy. And not all of Netflix's standup specials are great, but when you give someone a chance, you never know what they'll deliver. A great artist is rarely a great business person. They need help. A manager and a label. But the deal must be different, financially fair. All upside. I'd pay attention if a major label nurtured an act that was outside the Spotify Top 50 musically and promoted it. We are looking for gatekeepers! Now we've got a vast online audience overwhelmed with musicians seeking attention when most of them don't deserve it. Please, please, please sign something worth my attention, worth my time, and point me to it. I don't need another me-too rapper, or built by committee pop star. Hell, stop swinging for the fences. Almost everything worth paying attention to grows slowly and evolves, and the audience wants to go along for the ride, see the changes. This is what the Beatles did. But in the sixties record labels didn't expect every album to be gigantic, they recorded them on a budget and tried to hook the audience up with the music. And we were constantly surprised. Stuff that seemed completely uncommercial broke wide. Those days need to return. But it will only happen if the majors disrupt themselves, change their systems. Fire the dead wood. Flatten the pay scale. Make everybody think they're in it together. Get people looking for new music instead of just promoting priorities. A few innovative acts lift all boats. But the majors are not doing this, they're promoting the same dreck and the public knows it. Diva schmiva. Deliver someone who has something to say who makes the audience think. Someone who makes music that confounds people. Something that makes people talk about the music itself as opposed to ticket and merch sales. We need to bring excitement back to music. And to do this, we need a total reset regarding discovery and promotion. But everybody at the labels is baked into the old ways. Sans their catalogs, the majors would be wiped out by innovative new music enterprises. They could disrupt themselves, but they're not even trying to do this. They're focused on financial engineering, when they should be focused on emotions, feelings... Just because some nitwits keep buying crap that doesn't make it good. Don't focus on riches and fame, focus on music. Don't hype, deliver. Or maybe some hedge fund will come along and realign the whole company. Yes, hedge funds have a bad rep, but the truth is they evaluate a company, cut fat and create something shiny and new that is so efficient and hot that they flip it. Meanwhile, major label stocks go down. Think about 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

Re-Jon Anderson & the Band Geeks in Thousand Oaks

My oldest daughter just turned 41.  She was conceived in a Chevy van with the mural from the Relayer album on the side.  I still can’t get her to enjoy Yes. Al Jones Covington, LA ________________________________ Glad you got to see Jon with the Band Geeks. Check out “perpetual change” which is their live album.  It’s remarkable and the best interpretation of Yes music since the early 70’s.   Gates of Delerium is unreal….wish they’d play that again live. Lee Abrams ________________________________ LOVE this! I am a diehard YES fan going back over 50 years. Last weekend we had my high school 50th reunion, class of 76. I looked at the yearbook and my senior quote was “I’ve seen all good people turn their heads each day so satisfied, I’m on my way” Steve Gerardi ________________________________ Over the years, Yes seemed to slow down the pace of the music. The Band Geeks play the music with energy! Great decision by Jon Anderson. Gary Berlak ________________________________ I have not had the pleasure of seeing Jon with the Band Geeks, but a few years ago I caught him in concert with kids from the Paul Green School of Rock. It was magical watching these young teens gathered around him playing classic Yes songs. They sounded really great, and through it all, Jon had this look on his face of unbridled joy. When they finished playing “Heart of the Sunrise” I looked at my friend next to me and he was tearing  up.  I’ve seen many incarnations of Yes over the years, but Jon and these kids was one of the best. Regards, Rod Henry ________________________________ YES! Jon’s band is MUCH better than the Steve Howe tribute that is currently on the road  Larry Shockley ________________________________ Well put, Bob.  The work that Jon has been doing with The Band Geeks only goes to show that Yes needs Jon Anderson more than Jon Anderson needs Yes.  While it's nice to see Yes making new albums without Anderson, they lack his unique qualities that made Yes music sound like 'Yes'. Even during the Trevor Rabin era, Jon's presence kept that incarantion of the band valid. The irony is the new Yes line-up continues to record new songs but then go and tour with sets that are almost entirely full of classic songs that Jon Anderson was a significant part of creating.  I doubt we'll see Anderson's return to Yes, given Steve Howe is cleaarly happy with calling all the shots with Chris and Jon out of the way.  In the meantime, Jon is still making great music and The Band Geeks are a perfect fit for him to continue to make new music and deliver the the kind of performances that the current Yes is lacking.  Lee Elliott ________________________________ So glad you went to see them.  Yes was always music that had to be experienced and not explained.  The music is grand and majestic, and I believe that, as a group, they were one of the “classical” composers of our time.  Jon was the center of it, so even though he lost the name due to political and business issues, he is still the soul of Yes music.  His voice is still distinct and angelic, and his beautiful abstract lyrics evoke imagery and spiritual messages that transcend rock and roll.  The Band Geeks have rejuvenated him and at this point are stronger players than what passes for the “official” branded Yes band.  Although they do not have the presence and  flair of Chris Squire or Rick Wakeman (who does?), they bring the energy and musicianship of the originals. I’m looking forward to seeing them as they make their way up the coast this week.  I always go as often as I can.  As with all from that era, you never know when it will be the last.   Best regards, Andrew Mehlman ________________________________ Yes changed the way I thought about music and what a "rock" band was capable of. I was 14 when Close to the Edge came out and, as has been noted, that's the key age to really fall in love with music that seems to be directly transmitted to you, you are like a sponge letting it seep into you, your persona, your dreams, your emotions. They remain my favourite band all these years later, I suppose they are my "Beatles", comparing the impact that the fab 4 had on people just a bit older. The fact that Anderson still goes for (and hits!) those high notes is remarkable - I saw this tour in Troy NY last month. The Band Geeks can play that stuff in the correct keys and at the correct tempos, something the Steve Howe version struggles with. Glad you felt it too Bob, I am not ashamed to say that "Awaken" moved me to tears, not many songs can do that. Mark Hudson ________________________________ Love Yes. I was there for the world premiere of ClTTE in London, Sept 1972. Many years later I was at Armoury Studios in Vancouver working with Yes on The Ladder, hearing the story of Yes almost falling apart during that performance of CTTE. It was the first time they made it through the whole song! Jon is a wonder. Thx for remembering.. Cheers, Drew Arnott ________________________________ Prog is on the rise, you must know that. The kids are getting involved and my guess is that the young musicians want more.  I went to a concert by The Musical Box, the outstanding Genesis tribute band ( endorsed by the original members) and it was encouraging how many youngsters under 30, sh*t, under 20 were at the show. Fritz Doddy ________________________________ Completely agree. Yes morphed multiple times but Jon was almost always the constant.  This was a great show. We may be old AKs but we know good music (and today’s drivel sure isn’t)  regards-Doc Blues Mark Gresser ________________________________ This reminded me that during the 70's heyday, it was not unusual for local bands to play these songs. During my freshman week in Bloomington, I saw a band play a Yes medley followed by a Jethro Tull medley. As a fan of both, I knew the tracks inside out and these guys were good. It blew my mind. I also saw a local Nashville band called Sweetwater, including Adrian Belew, play a faithful but high energy version of "Getting Better". Amazing! Hearing great young musicians play this music live with live energy was thrilling. Robert Bond ________________________________ In about 1976 or 77, I taped a live Yes concert off the radio (on cassette) . For an encore they did "Every Little Thing" and it was fantastic. Listened to that tape many times. Perry Resnick ________________________________ It was one of THE best concerts period. Doesn't matter who or what music is liked past or present.  The point he makes about not bs dancers or light show or madonna/gaga set changes, it was pure pure pure music and the best of it.  The Band Geeks IS YES, not Howe's cover band.  Jon hasn't changed since I first saw him in their first show in LA 1971!  He's no less an angel if one believes and even if one doesn't like most of us.   The crowd was NOT all grey haired oldsters, no idea why he said that.  Even my kids and grands know YES.  Rick and Trevor are always missed but we got their soul and even more...rock and amazing solos were jaw dropping.  And his mention of a few new songs??? OMG, TRUE is a magnificent album and everyone knew those songs as well.  He waved a peace symbol rainbow flag, because we did see All Good People...and it's PRIDE month!!!!!!! Anyway, other than the YES show in the Round at the Forum, this was at least equal in talent, music, fans, love,  The FOH sucked which is weird for this theater but sound guys....  yet, other than a few mishaps by them, sound at Kavli is great.   Jon is a Treasure in the Music World and we were blessed to once again be with him.  Robin Rose ________________________________ I am so glad you got to see this show. It’s been touring for a couple of years now and I’ve been blown away. I couldn’t put my finger on it, how it was different from other old acts out on tour, and you’ve done a great job describing how and why it is. I am/was a casual Yes fan. Although I was all in during the Trevor Rabin era. But this collaboration with the Band Geeks really show what a genius Anderson is. He really does have the pipes. It’s crazy. And the backstory of how they got together is just as good as the Journey/Arnel story.  Much credit should be given to bassist Richie Castellano who has been in Blue Oyster Cult for 20 years or something like that.  The album of new songs that was released last year has some great stuff on it too.  Happy you discovered the secret of Anderson/BandGeeks.  Quint Randle ________________________________ Howe and Squire made a grave error removing Anderson from the band. I’m sure Davison comes much cheaper, so there’s less money to split up. But this is not a Journey situation. We all know that Anderson can still bring it In fact, these days, Pineda is having trouble doing so at age 58. So when you see “Yes” these days, every syllable of the singing is wrong, and everyone in the band is old and slow. Not these guys. So dumb. Someone needs to tell Howe that: Time is running out. We want to hear that guitar and Anderson’s voice while we still can. There are two numbers: 1) the percentage he gets - obviously higher these days without a Squire, White, Wakeman, or an OG Anderson to split it up with and, 2) the total revenue from the shows that his percentage is multiplied against.  Let’s say he’s generous and gives the rest of the current “Yes” 40%. Great. He’s making 60% of the revenue instead of 30%, of two-three times as much, while disappointing and/or pissing off fans and ruining his legacy as a resullt. I have to think that they’d be playing, at a minimum, 3,000-seaters instead of these tiny theaters they play in now. You nailed it - we go to Jon and the Geeks to see a real Yes, played energetically with the vocal vibrations that nail the lyrics and the tunes. Basically, the guy who still has his pipes is playing with younger people who nail all the instrumental parts with all of their chops. That the greed of Howe allows him to think anyone is fooled by plastering the logo on the current line-up is pretty galling, as much as we love him too. BTW, that’s a great observation - there are no bathroom songs on a Yes setlist. There has never have any. Gary Lang ________________________________ The show was indeed tremendous, incredible, excellent, one of the best concerts I've seen in many a moon and I love going to concerts! I’ve seen a lot of flack on social about how terrible the sound was- the sound to my ear was incredible and excellent, some of the best I’ve heard in a concert venue stetting- although the mixer did miss MANY sound cues including the first few words out of Jon Anderson’s voice. Near the end of Starship Trooper the guitarist was nearly inaudible for a good chunk of the song, not even close to the level it should have been so there were some odd and puzzling choices if that’s what you could call them… but what I could hear for most of the show was excellently balanced. Cheers, Michael Stern C.A.S.  New Toys / New Gear Editor Music Connection Magazine ________________________________ When Jon couldn’t tour due to health reasons, YEs went out and found a singer from a tribute band (then did it again a few years later).  Jon just got a whole tribute band to back him up, which seems much more authentic, given that he wrote and sang most of the songs to start with. And thanks for the Gentle Giant mention! Sky Wallace ________________________________ I’ve seen every version of Yes since 1979. It’s the music, the people and the live show. The very best players, playing complex music you remember.  Yea I’ve been a fan boy for years. And listen to the catalog all the way thru at least once a year. Not tired of it yet Bob Maggio ________________________________ I saw Jon Anderson and the Band Geeks in April and—yes—they aren’t Yes—but they are BETTER than the last version of the “real” Yes that I saw play (sans Anderson) a few years ago.  That official Yes was sloppy and disappointing. So hearing Jon? With this crack pot band? Way better.  And Bob— these guys deserve to have their names mentioned: Richie Castellano, Andy Ascolese, Andy Graziano, Rob Schmoll, Christopher Clark, and Robert Kipp. These guys are serious players; and yet another testament to the “new” model of music success, where people play their hearts out on YouTube and then find their way to playing with big name artists….Long live prog! thanks, Mark Feldman Boston ________________________________ Both Jon Anderson and Rush prove it every night they're onstage. I'd venture to say this kind of music *is* actually timeless. Never made for the charts, just for the listeners. Just as vibrant to my ears today as when I bought the original LPs (and CDs -- and now LPs again). Why is their respective reach expanding? Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson said it to me during one of our interviews back in the early '90s, to the effect of: "Listeners like you championed us and started writing about us once you turned professional." We didn't care what the rock-critic cognoscenti said about bands like Rush, Yes, King Crimson, Nektar, Camel, Caravan, etc... we *loved* that music, and it was -- and still is -- damn good. And now, a generation-plus after mine are finally able to discover this special, mystical kind of music alchemy firsthand. To springboard from something you semi-rhetorically wondered, I do feel the music made by artists like Jon Anderson and Rush is *our* classical music: Intricate, layered, involving, challenging, and constantly revealing. I look forward to seeing Rush in August, and I'll see them as many times as I'm able. Ditto Jon Anderson -- and Nektar too, for that matter. Now get out there and rock... and roll the bones. Mike Mettler Analog Planet ________________________________ You’re so right about losing interest in a band when they lose a member who may have not been a main cog of the band…When Neal and Jon (or as I call them The Dimmer Twins) fired Ross and Smitty from Journey… I was out… way out… to the point of not even listening anymore…that’s just the way I’m wired…       Was always a casual fan of YES but I’m pretty sure I’d love this show… especially knowing Jon Anderson still has the pipes! Tom Clark ________________________________ I also think a lot about the same things you think about Bob.  Why was it so different back then? Why did the music mean so much? So I believe all of the following. The music touched my soul. It was earth shaking when I heard something amazing. I remember exactly where I was the first time I heard Dr. Wu from Steely Dan. It hit so hard it is never forgotten. Same for Beatles, Procol Harum, The Band, and so many others. It wasn't for the money. It was for the creation...for the love of it all. It had never been done before. New ground, new sounds were being created and boundaries were constantly being broken. There was integrity. There was hope. There was love. Music brought us together. It's much harder now.  Music isn't even taught in many schools any more. We are totally distracted.  It's difficult to find the great music. It's still out there....but I am tired now. It's a real effort to find anything and get past the cesspool  of advertising that we have devolved into.  But I still look and listen, and often the older bands and songs resonate in a way that was unique to the times in which it was written. Leigh Goldstein ________________________________ From many: Rick Wakeman was NOT on The Yes Album He joined at Fragile... (Of course) ________________________________ The 805 will surprise ya! Michelle Jacobs -- 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 Earth, Wind & Fire Movie

HBO Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Szznn02Nli0 People have no idea how hard it is to make it. Never mind sustain. The spin on this film is what an a**hole Maurice White was. But that's not what I took, because I know people who are icons are not like the average person, they're one-minded and dedicated, their dreams are almost too big to share, people will laugh at them, and every single one of them is f*cked up, they've got something to prove, they believe that success will solve all their problems, acknowledgement will connect them to people, make up for the heartbreak in their past, but this is untrue. And when most acts realize this, they can never do what made them great ever again, they just can't get up the motivation. I missed it. History is constantly being rewritten by those who weren't there. By time you hit the mid-seventies, actually a few years before, music was bifurcated, into FM rock and AM Top 40. Of course there was Black radio and country, but the first two were the behemoths. And rarely did they cross paths. No, an FM track could occasionally cross over to AM, but the reverse was impossible, Top 40 was everything FM stood against. FM was not only the song, but the story of the band, what it all meant, whereas on AM radio it was usually the hit only. And the big money in touring was hoovered up by the acts on the FM dial. Today pop hits can sell tickets, but not back then. Maybe coming off a few big hits, while you were still hot, you could play arenas, but sans a hit in the marketplace, better to look for dinner theatre, some other way to make bread. So if you were a dedicated follower of fashion, which in this case meant the same clothes bands wore on the street, you listened to FM rock and nothing else. Let's remember, by time we hit the mid-seventies, every car had an FM radio, and probably a tape deck too. In the late sixties, even though FM rock was breaking, most of its fans were still listening to AM in the car, that was all they had. But by the mid-seventies... Meaning, if it was a hit on the AM, there's a good chance I never even heard it. Oh, I was aware of Earth, Wind & Fire, if for no other reason than I saw their records in the bin. And the trade papers featured them, but... Black people in rock was rare, Prince made inroads and left his mark, but to this day, there ain't a lot of color in rock, which has marginalized the genre. But back then?? So when "Easy Lover" was a hit on MTV, I didn't know who Philip Bailey was, I didn't recognize him alongside Phil Collins. Oh, I knew what Maurice White looked like, and I could name their hits, I knew the titles, but other than "Shining Star," I couldn't sing them because I didn't know them. So... This movie was educational for me, I learned so much! This doc is not like Questlove's initial movie, "Summer of Soul." That film had something to prove, a point to make, whereas here the story stands alone, the band is well-known and what we've got is a deep dive. But not deep enough. I'd argue this could be a series. I want a whole episode on Maurice's upbringing in Memphis. At this late date most music fans are aware of Nashville and its country roots, but Memphis? Same state, totally different mind-set. Memphis is the south, and even today I wouldn't say it's totally integrated. But so much great music came out of the city, and the funny thing is almost all these cats knew each other growing up, at least the Black ones. Maurice's mother abandons him at age five and moves to Chicago and starts another family. After high school Maurice moves up north, goes to the conservatory, but then becomes a drummer for Chess, and then goes out on the road with Ramsey Lewis. If you're a child of the sixties, you know Lewis, if for no other reason than his version of "The In Crowd" was all over the radio. Chess? The English rockers always talked about it, but still...most people are unaware of what was going down there. So Maurice decides to strike out on his own and moves to Los Angeles... Where there are Black hippies, a whole different lifestyle, I'd like to see an episode on that too! And forms the original Earth, Wind & Fire, makes albums for Warner Bros. to no significant commercial success, and then... Fires the band and starts over. He knows it's not working, he's keeping his brother Verdine, the bassist, but nobody else. And they're PISSED! Because the band members had no warning. They didn't like how they were treated. They were blind-sided. This is a recurring theme when it comes to Maurice, because he hates confrontation. Most musicians do. They don't want to piss anybody off, and they let their handlers be the heavies. So Maurice forms a new band, with the members you know, and rehearses and they go do a show in Philly, where doo-wop groups were the openers, and when the crowd reacts negatively...the band sits on the floor in the lotus position, for minutes! Oh yeah, Maurice is really touchy-feely. From astrology to Egyptology to wacko food... If you think only white people were into this... But then the band opens for George Clinton-Parliament/Funkadelic and... Light applause for them, levitation when George hits the stage. They have footage, for those who only know P. Funk as a legend, this will clue you in on what was going on, the magic involved. So they go back to the drawing board, hire a rhythm guitarist, become funkified... And the hits begin. Now there's a huge focus on the live show, which doesn't really work in the era of the internet. In the old days you had to go to experience it, there was no YouTube, you'd come home and tell your friends the details and drag them to the next concert, this is how audiences were built, this was the magic of live performance. Oh, we've got tons of production today, but the audience expects it and is rarely wowed. Maurice hires a choreographer, and connects with Doug Henning for magic, and the show is legendary... But not in my circles. I actually remember pictures of the band on stage being encased in tubes, that are lifted to reveal them and set them free, but... So Maurice is driven. Working twelve hours a day. Pushing the envelope, afraid to fall behind. He brings in the arranger he met at Chess. He even brings in David Foster... The funny thing about Foster is he'll deliver hits, but it frequently causes dissension in the band, and in some cases breaks up the band. He brought Chicago back to the chart, but the band members didn't appreciate his efforts and never worked with him again. Foster delivered hits for the Tubes, and then the band broke up, they believed these records were not an accurate representation of who they were. So Earth, Wind & Fire are superstars, playing arenas and stadiums. But they come back from every tour $500,000 in debt. The band members are being paid $2,500 a week and... Sans Maurice, there's no success. He breaks up the band, Philip Bailey returns to Denver, Ralph Johnson sells stereo equipment at Federated. Everybody believed these stars were rich. It was oftentimes a misperception, cash might have come in, but expenses were stratospheric, never mind all the money wasted along the way. But Maurice can't make it on his own, so he reforms the band and... Maurice may be Black, he may be playing R&B, but he's definitely a rock star. He believes he's entitled to go on the road and screw other women. He needs to live like a king. Until Parkinson's knocks him off the road and ultimately kills him. So what have we learned? In my case, a whole hell of a lot more than I knew. And it's not like "Behind the Music," because this film was not done to set up a reunion tour, but to document the history, the travails of Maurice and the band. And it was Maurice's band. As Philip Bailey says, every band has a leader. Who is oftentimes resented for his control, his power, but it was Maurice's vision, and it worked. So, this film was not done on the cheap. There are animated effects to tell the story when there is no footage, it's extremely well done. And there was a ton of press when it came out, but now..? HBO is not like Netflix. HBO MAX's homepage is littered with all kinds of junk, whereas Netflix has one brand and promotes its best stuff and the algorithm will serve up stuff you might be interested in, that's up your alley. So if you watched music documentaries in the past... Now of course Boomers and Gen-X'ers who lived through the arc of Earth, Wind & Fire's career will be curious, but it's young-uns who will get the most from this flick. It demonstrates the twists and the turns on the road to success, what it takes. Even I am watching wondering how this all works financially, with nearly ten people in the band. Today, bands are rare, everybody's a solo act, you don't have to share the bread. And when old acts reunite, oftentimes there's only one or two key players, because they don't want to share the money. So if you're sitting at home, thinking you want to be a musical star... You've got GarageBand and Suno, maybe even Pro Tools, you have easy access to Spotify, et al. You've been exposed to TV competition shows. All this makes you believe that there's a highway, and if you just get on the road, you'll speed to success. No way. You've got to be a special kind of person, willing to play without a net, risking all the while. You've got to supersede the system. You can't wait for the suits to pick up on you, it only works if you're one step ahead of the business, delivering that which the usual suspects can't comprehend. And you have to be willing to sacrifice so much, relationships... Almost no one is willing to walk the razor's edge for the years it takes to align you with potential success. Maurice was a professional musician for years before he had a hit. The bottom line is it's even harder to be successful today, because the channel is clogged not only with music, but video games and social media and streaming television. And even the music of stars goes unheard by many. The music business is not for amateurs. If you're not willing to work hard and put everything on the line... Hell, if you get an entry level job, know that you'll be on call 24/7, there's really no such thing as the weekend. And you'll need to stay up late and oftentimes get up early. And as hard as the suits are working, the musicians are working that much harder. This film will keep your attention. It's not hagiography, it's the straightforward story. If I was a member of Earth, Wind & Fire would I be pissed at Maurice? Absolutely! But without him, good luck. This is the way it is. Maurice won. But did he really? Watch the movie and you can decide. -- 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

Aermica 250

You don't want to fail in public. This is why acts are wary of stretching to play larger venues. Nothing puts a stink upon your act like empty seats. Forget the buzz on the outside, the business and the social media scuttlebutt, the attendees are also turned off. What are they doing there if everybody else decided to stay home? Are they no longer hip? Sure, there's always a hard core that sees its isolation from the rest as a badge of honor, but they don't stage their events in stadiums. Now if you were around in 1976... It was a weird era. There'd been talk about the Bicentennial for years, but in the wake of Watergate everybody was still licking their wounds. The focus ultimately was on light and breezy, fun, no heaviness involved. Ford was now president and people didn't want any disruption, they were sick of arguing. The war was finally over and it was only a few years before the go-go eighties. The late seventies is when the boomers grew up, looked in the mirror and questioned how they were going to get ahead in the future. It was no longer all for one. There was no common rallying cry. This is when the seeds of the hedonistic eighties were planted, not that we knew it at the time. But one thing was for sure, everybody still believed in the American Dream, thought if they put their nose to the grindstone they could get ahead, and there was no doubt that America was the greatest country in the world. We were the land of opportunity, we ruled. July 4, 1976 if not completely flat, certainly was not memorable. But now it's fifty years later and... About twelve months back people stated talking to me about the events they were planning to celebrate the 250th birthday of our nation. Now you've got to know that events like this require a lot of heavy lifting, and a ton of money. Good intentions are not enough. And it's hard to rally people around a generic rallying cry. Look at music festivals... They rarely start with a bang, you need to build them over years, convince the public they're worth attending, so to plan for one day of events? At least Trump had the right idea, to have an extended celebration. But he could not read the room, he had more power than ever before, but despite the ability to quash naysayers, the passion for him and his projects was waning. Now it's the little things that get you in the end. The war in Iran? Still incomprehensible to most people. Americans famously lack passports, and many believe that Iran is a third world nation, even though that could not be further from the truth, and all they really want is for gas prices to come down and for inflation to be tamed. But the algae in the Reflecting Pool... Did the Reflecting Pool need fixing? Could be, but like with the destruction of the Esat Wing, we didn't hear about it until it was happening, and the no-bid contract stuck in the craw of those leaning left, but it was business as usual. Until the algae bloomed. First there was the question of the cause. But we were told the problem would be rectified quickly. And when this turned out not to be the case, it was blamed on bad actors, criminals...and if there's one person who believes that, they must be related to Trump, or one of the naysayers in Congress. The thing is when you take action, there's always a potential for failure. Which is why it's a fool's errand to talk about cutting spending, making government smaller. Sure, do your best to control costs, but don't throw out the baby with the bathwater, i.e. fire people and cancel plans. As for the public at large, they like government services, they don't like to pay taxes, but you can't have it both ways. So now you've got a green Reflecting Pool with your mad next door neighbor coming out and blaming those pesky neighborhood kids. What would even be the motivation? And it turns out if you were anywhere near the neighborhood, you were at risk of being arrested. Furthermore, with cameras everywhere, wouldn't there be footage? And if not, why not? So then it comes down to the two week celebration of America 250 on the Mall. Some call it a World's Fair. But there's a reason there hasn't been a World's Fair for eons, everything new can be displayed and experienced on the internet, you don't have to travel to see something, you just have to log on. As for a raw celebration/party... I don't know who came up with this fakakta idea, but it would have been better to get the experts involved. Hand concerts to AEG or Live Nation, which doesn't seem like much of a stretch since Michael Rapino actually spoke with Trump. And until you've established the gravitas of your festival, attendance is based on headliners. Who are the headliners? One thing about the Bicentennial, everyone did their best to make it bipartisan. Then again, as much as we were divided, we were united by the resignation of Nixon, we were coming together. Meanwhile, J.D. Vance is now trying to rehabilitate Nixon, talk about rewriting history... Then there were the musical acts... When they started to cancel, Trump could have done a mea culpa, said it was not a MAGA event, but instead he doubled-down, said he would be the headliner. So now there was no talent and a great swath of the public was rubbed the wrong way. As for coming to a carnival for booths and a Ferris wheel... In the modern era a Ferris wheel is not far away, nor are the booths that titillate you for a moment while they take your money. And if you want to spend, who wants to go to D.C. in the summer? I mean if you really want to endure the heat, you'll go to Disney World. This was a foreseeable failure, and there could have been some course correction, but like last week with the housing bill, Trump is stonewalling. Now in business they tell you not to do this, that it's about the customer's mind rather than the company's. Nordstrom and Costco will take almost anything back, they want to keep a customer. But if you're hemorrhaging customers... That's the thing about businesses, they fade very quickly when the public starts to turn on them, especially in the modern world, where word of mouth is on steroids online. It's all about soft power. Feelings. But Trump seemed to miss the memo. Now whatever you think about Trump, pictures don't lie. Scratch that, in the AI era, pictures lie all the time. But I've yet to see a deepfake showing the Mall crowded with attendees. And it's even worse, since so few people are there, there's no FOMO amongst the rest of the populace. So Trump is failing in plain sight. It's not like he can declare bankruptcy and start over. America isn't a business. Now never in my lifetime have Americans been so misinformed. The truth is fungible, facts are up for debate. But the failure of the celebration on the National Mall is not. No one can defend it. But expect Trump to come out and blame someone for the failure imminently, like he did with the Reflecting Pool. The truth is America is experiencing generational change, and neither the Republicans nor the Democrats truly see this, never mind want it or are effectively countering it, or god forbid embracing it. The younger, digital-savvy generations, are taking over. Meanwhile, everybody over the age of 50, especially those with a megaphone, can't stop sh*tting on the internet and social media, digital communications. It's just like our parents railed against rock music back in the sixties. Utterly laughable if you're a youngster. You need to disrupt yourself to stay in power, but both parties are calcified. Much of America is tuning out the D.C. circus. But when the Reflecting Pool is green and the Mall is empty, only Karoline Leavitt could spin this positively. Everybody else cringes, if they don't laugh outright. They see an out of touch Administration in an out of touch city. Maybe if they had rappers and influencers, maybe if they met the younger generations halfway... But no, it's Lee Greenwood or the equivalent twenty four seven. The game is to have plausible deniability. But there's no way Trump and his cronies can spin the disaster of the Great American State Fair positively. And people may feel positive about Coachella, but they have mixed feelings about state fairs anyway. What a disaster. Which will seep into Trump's presidency just like algae took over the Reflecting Pool. -- 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

Jon Anderson & the Band Geeks in Thousand Oaks

1 There was a standing ovation after almost every song. As previously established, my dentist turned me on to Yes. His nephew made an 8-track tape of the first album for him and we listened to it as the Dodge station wagon which needed a front end alignment trundled down I-91 from Vermont back to Connecticut. Now if you know that initial LP, there's an absolute killer version of the the Beatles' song "Every Little Thing," which had the misfortune of being on "Beatles VI" in the USA, a hodgepodge collection with a lame photo on the cover, but in the U.K. it was ensconced towards the end of "Beatles for Sale," the band's CD I've played the most, because it contains the original recording of my now favorite Beatles song. But this Yes cover, it was majestic. I immediately purchased the album, played that song for everybody I knew, even during freshman orientation the first week of college, I thought it would close everybody instantly, but it took years for the masses to catch on. After loving the debut, I saw the follow-up, "Time and a Word," in the bin at Alexander's, not evening knowing it existed, I thought the group was one and done, and I played it, but it was not quite as good as the first LP. And then came "The Yes Album." I only purchased it because I was a fan of the band. I did not expect a great leap forward, but that's what I got. The addition of virtuosos Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman lifted the band to a whole 'nother level, pushing the envelope of what came to be known as prog rock. Steve Howe was not there last night. Nor Rick Wakeman. But unlike Chris Squire, at least they're still alive. And Bill Bruford's replacement Alan White is gone too. And it's more than half a century later. Does anybody care? That's what I was thinking driving to the gig and during the first number, a full-length version of "Close to the Edge." The original Yes only had one hit, "Roundabout," and this show was from that classic era, except for a few new songs from Jon's collaboration with the Band Geeks, which fit in seamlessly and were actually quite good. Most people come to oldies shows for the hits. And depending on how many you have, that's how many tickets you can sell. Aged Boomers and Gen-X'ers do the calculation. They've got the cash and the time, is it worth spending it? I wouldn't think that many people would want to go see a band with only one hit. But they did. But were these the only ones? I mean how broad is the Yes footprint? I'm not sure. But this music was from a point in time when hits were just icing on the cake, it was about the album. With none of today's internet distractions we played them from beginning to end, over and over. And went to see these bands. But now? This is not like going to see the Journey celebration. This music is too difficult to be pure nostalgia, it demands attention. I won't quite say it's work, but if you're not involved, you don't even want to be there. And I'm asking myself why I am there. It's so weird, I'm sitting there thinking about what this music meant to me back when, but do I want to live in the past or the present? Stop in my tracks or keep pushing the envelope? Now let's be clear, it was my people who were there. Old and rumpled, with gray and white hair, some wearing t-shirts, in some cases band shirts from previous tours. This was not a night out at the Hollywood Bowl, no one was there to be seen. They came for the music, and the music only. So is this material ancient, or is it our classical music? Were the people going to the show no different from their parents going to the symphony? And marching forward... There can't even be any shows like this. First and foremost, there was no production, which the Spotify Top 50 specializes in. And the Spotify Top 50 also specializes in hedonistic, mindless hits, not much different from superhero movies. Will you really want to spend all that money to see these acts fifty years from now? It's one thing if they're part of a revue, but will you want two hours of their tunes? The people last night did. 2 So what you've got to know is the Band Geeks do an excellent job of playing the material, but they are faceless. Which is a far cry from the Yes of yore, with Wakeman in his caftans... And there still is a version of Yes plying the boards, sans any original members, but the band is lacking one thing, Jon Anderson. This is not plug and play, this doesn't work with an Ariel Pineda. It's not about suspending disbelief. Unlike with Journey and other bands with soundalike replacement singers, the music is not bigger than Jon Anderson, he is intertwined with it. Yes is beyond songs, it's creativity in the writing, the playing and the singing. You need to see Jon Anderson sing these songs. And he'll be 82 in October, and unlike so many of his peers, he still has his pipes. So... You miss the other original players, their personalities... I learned way back that you need to be weary of replacing band members, because in addition to musical cohesion, there's always some part of the audience that is attached to that seemingly secondary player. Don't forget, George had fans, not only John and Paul, never mind the quirky, lovable Ringo. And you want to see these people in the band. And that was lacking last night, and was disappointing. And to tell you the truth, even though I own and know "Close to the Edge," it was never my favorite, but here we got the full side rendition. And when it closed... People stood up clapping vociferously and... There were no video cameras, no one to impress, they were just that moved by the music. But then came "Perpetual Change"... Never mind "And You and I." And then I was completely involved, it was not pure nostalgia, it was not like so many oldies shows, this music was alive and kicking, no one on stage was going through the motions, this was as vibrant as all of the new shows out there. Once again, they're doing it without a net. Yes, there are two keyboard/synth players, but like I said, there's no production, it's purely music. Sure, Anderson claps his tambourine, and occasionally paraded around with a giant flag, but this show was not something so much that you saw, but something you heard, something you experienced. That you were involved in. And song after song, except for a couple of the new ones, generated a standing ovation. These people knew the music. They'd stand up spontaneously and thrust their arms in the air, they'd clap along and sing too. For all you knew, these people were still living in the seventies. But it's the twenty first century. 3 So if you're a Yes fan, you've got to go. Since it's only Anderson of the originals, it's actually less nostalgic, it's like Anderson has thrown off the past and been reinvigorated. And the venues are not big. There's no rip-off involved. It's like it was back in the day. But those days are long over. So what do we make of this? Sitting there for the two hour long sets it was clear that we lived through something, whose formula seems to have been lost. Yes, we can call Yes prog rock, but they sounded nothing like their contemporaries Genesis or Gentle Giant. Each of these acts was on their own hejira. And nobody was sitting there saying "let's write a single," it was never about the hit. But this music has lasted. So many of the acts from the seventies can't even sell out a club. And even if you had a couple of hits, if there were no albums to back it up, there aren't any rabid fans. But rabid fans will come out every year to see acts they're invested in, just ask the metal bands. But metal never dies. And prog rock is almost completely in the rearview mirror. 4 The apotheosis was "I've Seen All Good People." "Take a straight and stronger course To the corner of your life Make the white queen run so fast She's hasn't got time to make you a wife" Even if you don't remember every word, you remember the melody. Takes you right back to your dorm room. And they started a cappella and then the voices ascended into heaven and it was positively mesmerizing. All I could do was lean forward, rock back and forth, nod and sing along. There was joy in this music. It was the other. Not made for radio, seemingly not made for anybody but the people who made it, the band itself. And if the audience could relate... And we did. And we couldn't exactly explain why. It's just that it titillated us, was one step beyond what we'd encountered before, was anything but me-too. "'Cause it's time, it's time in time with your time, and its news Is captured for the queen to use" Don't ask me what the words mean, they're open to each person's individual interpretation. "Don't surround yourself with yourself Move on back two squares" "Your Move" goes on for minutes, it's exquisite, prettier and more enticing than music half a century younger. And then, when you're completely entranced... "I've seen all good people turn their heads each day So satisfied, I'm on my way" 5 There was no context. Other than the fact that this was music we knew and loved and wanted to hear performed. It wasn't about hype, there was no press, you had to find it yourself. Once again, the music didn't sound, still doesn't sound like anything else, and rather than being set in amber it was scrubbed clean and moving. I'm not saying this is for everybody. But it's surprising how many it is for. Those who grew up in an era when music not only drove the culture, it was a constant bastion of innovation. You'd break the shrinkwrap and drop the needle and not know exactly what you were going to experience, even if you owned every one of the act's previous albums. It's a lost formula. Forget the music, you've got to have screens, lights, distractions, the belief is the music itself is not enough, certainly not if you're playing to 1,800. But last night it was. P.S. No one got up and went to the bathroom during the show. P.P.S. There was no undercurrent of conversation whatsoever during the show, a rare event. The set list: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/jon-anderson-and-the-band-geeks/2026/thousand-oaks-civic-arts-plaza-fred-kavli-theatre-thousand-oaks-ca-134841ed.html -- 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