This Is Hilarious

I don’t believe in self-hype.

I know, I know, you can’t get anywhere without TELLING people about yourself.  But every time I think of promoting myself I think of the words from "The Disco Strangler"…

Sayin, ‘Look at me, baby, look at me.
I’m beautiful, I’m beautiful, I’m somebody.’

Well, maybe you need more context…

The Eagles’ "Long Run" album was a disappointment.  Not so much in that it was bad, but it had to follow "Hotel California".  Nothing could follow "Hotel California", which is why the group ultimately broke up.  Trying to top it, trying to get something done that was SO great, the band couldn’t produce anything at all.  So Glenn Frey immediately cut "No Fun Aloud", the OPPOSITE of an Eagles album, all irreverent and nonchalant, and Don Henley released the dud "I Can’t Stand Still".  But then Frey slid off into oblivion, with ever less impressive discs, and Henley waited years and released "Building The Perfect Beast" and became an icon.  And then everybody listening to the Eagles got so old and never went into a record store and NEITHER Frey nor Henley could sell for shit so the band got back together.

ANYWAY, "The Long Run" is my least favorite Eagles disc.  It contains the overrated Timothy B. Schmit track "I Can’t Tell You Why", easily eclipsed by Poco’s "Keep On Tryin’", and the almost irrelevant "Geeks Don’t Want No Freaks", but it DOES contain the ever popular and better now than it was back then "Heartache Tonight", the title track, "Those Shoes", Joe Walsh’s "Warriors" track "In The City" and "King Of Hollywood".  In other words, it’s a great collection of just a bit subpar, for the Eagles, cuts.  And sandwiched next to last on the first side, in the place of the classic "Life In The Fast Lane" on "Hotel California", is "The Disco Strangler".

Now AFTER "The Disco Strangler" comes "King Of Hollywood", all dark and film noir.  The two make quite a pair.  The latter song has memorable lyrics too.  Sure, there’s the great slow intro into the opening "Well he sits up there on his leatherette", but it’s the closing verse that puts the song over the top, that is so memorable…

After a while, nothing was pretty
After a while, everything got lost
Still, his jacuzzi runneth over
Still, he just couldn’t get off
He’s just another power junkie
Just another silk-scarf monkey
You’d know it if you saw his stuff
The man just isn’t big enough

And then the guitars start to WAIL!

THIS is Hollywood.  If you want an example, read this:

When Pitching an Idea, Leave Yoda Out of It

And so is "The Disco Strangler".  You can see the wannabe.  You can get high on cocaine just LISTENING to it.

Lookin’ for the good life
Dressed to kill
She don’t have to worry ’cause
There’s always someone else who will
Loose and loaded every night
Dancin’ underneath the flashin’ light
Sayin, ‘Look at me, baby, look at me.
I’m beautiful, I’m beautiful, I’m somebody.’
Just slip into the arms of the disco strangler

And now that we’ve got THAT out of the way…, let’s just say that in the modern era, it’s about pull rather than push.  If something’s good, people will find it.  That’s what the Net’s about!  Everything’s AVAILABLE!  The labels haven’t figured this out.  They think the old days/ways still rule.  So they overhype and burn acts out.

As for me..?  Shit, I don’t feel GOOD ENOUGH, WORTHY ENOUGH, to say LOOK AT ME!  Shit, YOU JUST MIGHT!  Then I’ll be forced to try and meet your expectations, and I probably won’t.

ANYWAY, I got e-mail from this guy, whom I don’t know, and it said this:

Hi Bob,

Fred Wilson my partner in wallstrip, introduced me to your blog. We love it at wallstrip. Your Scion post inspired fred and us to do a show about toyota and its recent allitime high.

We incorporated your post into the show. We hope you like it. It airs tomorrow. We will be linking and discussing your post.

Continued success.

Regards,

Howard Lindzon
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Didn’t think much about it.  So, some Wall Street guy mentioned me.  Oh, I LIKE IT, but it’s about him, not me.  And that’s okay.

There was a subsequent e-mail, today, it said:

We hope you enjoy.  No wonder Toyota is at an all time high.  Me – I bought an Element.  Very cool car as well although they don’t seem as concerned about protecting the brand.

Show link below and it will run all day on wallstrip, than archived at veoh, revver and youtube,

http://wallstrip.com/itunes/iTunes/032_TM1.mov

And I wasn’t even going to check the link out until I got e-mail from Al Cafaro:

Bob,

GREAT STUFF! GET PAID!

Best,

AC

http://www.wallstrip.com/theshow/2006/11/28/11-28-06-toyota/

Huh?

So I clicked on the link.  And there was my NAME!  And this chick is uttering my words.  I was elated, but I felt like a deer in the headlights.

It’s tough for me to listen to her utter my lines, but I’ve never experienced anything like this before.  I thought it would crack you up…
 
Meanwhile, you can see what Wallstrip is at: http://wallstrip.com/itunes/. (Problem in Firefox)

This is a read-only blog. E-mail comments directly to Bob.