The records that were hits at the same time as the British Invasion.

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I couldn’t have a conversation with Seymour Stein without him mentioning Mike Vernon.

Oh, that’s a little extreme, but Seymour mentioned Mike all the time, just like he mentioned Syd Nathan and King Records…that’s where he got his start. And once he started he made a deal with Mike Vernon to put out his Blue Horizon records in America.

But now Seymour is dead and there’s no one left to testify.

I’d never heard of Mike Vernon, but it turns out I know his music. I learned that from the few obits I found. Turns out Mike Vernon produced the legendary John Mayall album “Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton.”

Do young people know this record?

Keith Relf was the frontman of the Yardbirds, and their catchy hit tunes were written by Graham Gouldman. Sure, “Over Under Sideways Down” featured the fretwork of Jeff Beck, but unless you’d seen “Blow Up,” chances are you didn’t know Jeff Beck was in the group, or Eric Clapton before him.

Most people didn’t know who Clapton was until “Disraeli Gears,” the 1967 album that featured his guitar work on “Sunshine of Your Love.” People bought that, some went back to buy “Fresh Cream,” “Wheels of Fire” was gigantic and then it was “Goodbye.”

And back then, when you discovered an act, you investigated their roots, you wanted more. There were people who already owned the “Blues Breakers” album, but what truly blew it up was Eric’s success in Cream.

And it wasn’t only Eric who got a boost in status, it was Mayall himself too, he was now seen as a fountain of great guitar players, a veritable farm team. Mick Taylor played with Mayall before he was snatched by the Stones. And before all that, you had Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, who ultimately formed Fleetwood Mac, whose first two albums were produced by Vernon and came out on his label to boot! It was Vernon who produced the single “Albatross”… Never a hit, it has sustained longer than the hits of its era.

Turns out Mike and his brother Richard owned Chipping Norton Recording, which I only knew because there’s a famous photo of Gerry Rafferty wearing a sweater with the studio’s name embroidered on it. “Baker Street” was cut there.

Mike Vernon produced David Bowie, Ten Years After, Savoy Brown…even the legendary “Christine Perfect” album which was released to crickets, but when Fleetwood Mac blew up with her now in it, the album was stocked in every record store…once again, people wanted, NEEDED, more.

Vernon was even a performer. He was in Rocky Sharpe and the Replays…I never knew that.

Oh, I forgot to mention that Mike produced “Hocus Pocus” by Focus!

But not a single person e-mailed me about his passing. Whereas if Seymour was still alive, he would have waxed rhapsodic, sent a lengthy e-mail I could have shared with my readers.

Now in one of the obits Vernon said that it was a time and place, the blues revival…but we’re only a motion away from another wave, this music has feeling, it’s forever.

And there were obits in the English papers, and I was stunned to find one in the “New York Times”:

“Mike Vernon, Who Helped Spark the British Blues Boom, Dies at 81 – He produced albums — by John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, with Eric Clapton, and the early Fleetwood Mac — that defined 1960s blues rock. He also shepherded David Bowie’s debut album.

Free link: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/24/arts/music/mike-vernon-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.WFA.EUPE.5T6FFTGj-fyy&smid=url-share

But there were no hosannas, never mind a victory lap while he was still alive. Even worse, he died on March 2nd, weeks ago, we’re only finding out now!

I don’t know if Mike Vernon belongs in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but one thing is for sure, he belongs there a lot more than Whitney Houston and the popsters now being inducted. Vernon’s work was bedrock.

But no one seems to care.

We used to. That was our passion, our lives…we needed to know all the players. And I knew the songs, but didn’t happen to buy the albums Mike produced, so I didn’t know…whereas today all this information is at our fingertips and people know nothing.

Then again, are the people worth knowing about? Are the acts worth knowing about? They might have hits, but they’re usually not the single vision of yore, written by the act itself. And money and fame lead, whereas before they were after-effects.

But what really weirds me out is everybody who knew Vernon, and it’s not only Vernon, is passing and not only are these people forgotten, but the stories too.

It’s extremely weird.

But the music remains.

How much of today’s music will remain?

“Albatross” is forever… The Spotify Top 50?

I don’t need someone to root for in order to enjoy a TV series or movie.

Good is not good enough for me. I want the best, which often doesn’t even cost more. Not so I can show it off, but so I can USE IT! All those features…I explore and use them.

I read the manual. Always. When I buy a car, before I set up a piece of electronic gear…

I don’t care how much violence there is, that won’t prevent me from watching a series or film.

I’m not into entertainment. What they call “popcorn movies.” I’ve never read a comic book in my life. Well, other than “Archie” and “Casper the Friendly Ghost.” Marvel means nothing to me.

I hate fantasy. If there are ghosts, demons, anything that doesn’t happen in real life, I’m out.

And I’m not a big fan of sci-fi either…

I want to go deep. If I like a song, I can literally play it thirty times in a row. Much more than once, I’ve played one album and one album only for an entire week…”Led Zeppelin II.” Nik Kershaw’s “15 Minutes.” As for singles… Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” and Paula Cole’s “14” and Paul McCartney’s “Big Barn Bed”… I put the song on endless repeat and revel in the mood.

I hate groupthink. I don’t want to disagree for the sake of disagreeing, but I don’t want to hold back my opinion for fear of blowback.

I like a nice house, but it’s far down the list of what’s important to me. What’s in my mind is what counts.

I hate shopping for clothes. Mostly I just go to the Polo outlet store and stock up when I’m in need.

I don’t take almost anybody’s opinion as the truth, because people are so uniformed. Unless they’re at the center of what they’re talking about, I go online and do research. Yes, my own research, but at trusted sites… I hate when people send me info from blogs that a quick look at Wikipedia will tell you are biased. It just shows how uninformed they are.

I love the news. I love reading the physical paper because I see stories I don’t find online. Having said that, I’m checking the news apps all day long. For breaking stories. NYT, WSJ, LAT, Apple News+, even X…but only the tweets of those people I follow, the “For you” feed is trash.

If I find something great I want to tell everybody about it.

I love to argue a point. Wrestle with the issues. Get into the minutiae and tease out the truth. Sure, a song may be good, but if it had this or that it would be SPECTACULAR!

I’m susceptible to bullies, but I’ve learned over time that my reaction, my cowering, is unfounded. The people who respond negatively first?/ They’re the most invested in putting you down.

I hate when someone reads a missive of mine and then in a derogatory way says I missed this or that, when if they just read what I wrote they’d see I mentioned it!

Also, I hate when people criticize me for not mentioning a minor player when writing about a major one… What I do is not comprehensive, go to the encyclopedia for that…or maybe today, Wikipedia.

I hate nitpickers.

I believe intellect trumps money, you just have to know how to use it.

I hate sour grapes. From unsuccessful people and people who tell me how hard they’re working. Too many don’t know what sacrifice truly is.

If I’m your friend you can count on me, and I hope I can count on you.

When I find someone is on the same page as me, I buzz on the inside.

I’m an alienated f*ck. I’m the one who refuses to call the teacher “professor,” I’m the one who puts their feet on the desk, I’m not saying there should be no rules, but you’ve got to earn my respect, your title is not enough.

When I was twenty one I knew everything, now I realize how much I don’t know.

If you have a deformity, get plastic surgery…but if you’re doing it to stay young, I don’t get it. Charlotte Rampling has had nothing done and she’s more beautiful than the nipped and tucked.

Okay, you don’t eat and you’re stick thin… You might be impressing other women, but I’m turned off and most men are too. Eat something. And just wait until osteoporosis hits.

Everybody’s got a story…their life, and I want to hear it.

I accept almost nothing at face value.

I’m susceptible to people judging me, but I do what I want anyway.

Bugs me that college is now seen as a glorified trade school. Then again, the real learning in college happens outside class, hanging with people in the dorm.

I love living in LA. because the only person who ever asked me my SAT scores was a Boston Brahmin.

My two favorite flavors of ice cream are Phish Food and Chunky Monkey.

I refuse to save money on that which is cheap to begin with. I don’t want Chips Ahoy, I want Entenmann’s, or even better.

There are exceptions to all of the above.

Dan Clancy is the CEO of Twitch. This is a must-listen.

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dan-clancy/id1316200737?i=1000757533142

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/e2f676e0-03c9-406b-8eb4-bfcb81c3701c/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-dan-clancy