If you think anybody under the age of twenty cares about Michael Jackson,
you’re sadly mistaken.

Michael Jackson had his hits twenty years ago.  Not that he’s left the public
eye.  He’s endured so many plastic surgeries as to contest Jocelyn
Wildenstein as the scariest human on the planet.  Oh, some of his music was great, but the man is now a CARTOON!  Someone who seems only interested in maintaining his fame and his money.  Whereas Roger Waters and David Gilmour are barely in the news.  But, amongst the younger set, they RULE!

There was a fascinating editorial in the L.A. "Times" stating that Live 8 was
a failure because it didn’t appeal to the people that counted, those in the
red states.  The article said to have a show in the south with a bunch of
country stars.  Since the goal is to influence American policy, this would be the
best way to reach the people who MAKE UP public opinion.

But Bob Geldof, for all the good work he’s done, is not in touch with
America.  Hell, most of Europe HATES America.  Thinks we’re bullies.  But you can’t
win unless you give us something we can understand, something we can relate to.
 And we can’t relate to that free show in Philadelphia, and those shows
overseas…they seem to be the kind of British thing that just doesn’t cross the
pond, acts that people live and die for in the U.K. but we consider to be
snoozefests.  But that’s not Pink Floyd.

Now I’m not going to say Pink Floyd is going to bring in the red states,
although Republicans love the band maybe as much as Democrats.  But now Americans are going to pay attention, now they CARE, because, you see, Pink Floyd are the last gods.  Oh, the Gilmour incarnation made new records and toured.  You
could say they sold out a bit.  But Roger Waters doesn’t know the meaning of
"sell out".  He only does what feels right.  And many people don’t agree with his
positions, certainly not re Floyd, but there’s no mistake, he does what’s in
his heart, he can’t be influenced, certainly not for the bucks.  In other
words, Roger Waters has CREDIBILITY!  He wrote a whole album about his fucked up life, "The Wall", and unlike the smiling, face-lifted, dyed hair Paul
McCartney, he hasn’t rejected his old angst, isn’t on an endless victory lap in search
of more money than he can use, no, we actually think he’s the same fucked up
guy, and we LOVE HIM FOR THAT!!!

In the sixties and seventies you didn’t need a hit to survive, didn’t need a
hit to be a working musician.  You could have a career, sell enough records to
survive, without going gold.  It was radio, and cult fans, they supported
you.  Back before everybody was greedy, before everybody spread the myth that
touring was too expensive to do without label support and endorsements, when
people did it for the MUSIC not the MONEY!  You were a MUSICIAN, not a STAR!

Sure, Pink Floyd had some catchy early hits with Syd Barrett, and believe you
me, the youngsters know them, but it was their more ethereal work that hooked
people.  Here was a band that was forging its own way, exploring, with only the desire to make great music, THIS people could relate to, an ever-growing
cult.  And then came "Dark Side Of The Moon".

Cults either die out or explode.  There comes a critical moment when all the
stars align and an act blows up, or it breaks up.  "Dark Side Of The Moon" WAS
a bit more coherent than "Ummagumma", "Atom Heart Mother" and "Meddle", but
what really broke the album was radio going on "Money".  I don’t know the band
members, I don’t know if they thought they’d created a hit, but I doubt it,
that just wasn’t the ethos of the band.  "Money" succeeded almost by accident,
radio CHAMPIONED IT!

"Dark Side Of The Moon" still sells today.  Because new bands just aren’t
making this kind of music.  All that alternative rock.  It’s about SIMPLICITY!  I
mean do you want to live in a world without BMWs and Macs?  Where everybody
has a dialup connection and TiVo doesn’t exist?  That’s what today’s new rock
is about.  And hit rap is about SELLING OUT!  What with the logos not only in
the videos, but companies being pimped in the SONGS!  Everything is made to be
catchy, so you’ll hear it once and not forget it.  Whereas Pink Floyd music is
hard to even COMPREHEND the first time through, one can sometimes even
consider it GRATING!  In a world where all the marketing hypes are spoonfed to you, after being ground up to be palatable, Pink Floyd exists in its own universe,
and still contains the chunks, which is why kids LOVE IT!

And baby boomers have never forgotten the band.  Because the music isn’t
pimped out in commercials and movies.  And now that radio has become more
corporate, most of the band’s tracks are too outside to even be PLAYED!  The act is
now solely owned by the public, by the fans.  Almost like the Doors.  Both bands
permeate the culture, you can’t quantify it, other than by CD sales, but it’s
palpable, neither act has been forgotten, as the productions of the faux
musicians come and go, their music endures.  As Eminem spouts in the media,
releases mediocre material that sells but nobody cares about, Pink Floyd and the
Doors just lay back and rake in the dough from an annuity that will go on
FOREVER!  Hell, "Dark Side Of The Moon" is our modern Mona Lisa.

Not that it’s only "Dark Side Of The Moon".  "The Wall" movie is just about
as outside as the album, which is why it’s a rite of passage to view it, just
as it’s part of growing up to sync "Dark Side Of The Moon" to "The Wizard Of
Oz".

And in the wake of 9/11, when Fred Durst and Johnny Rzeznik sat down to play
a song, it was "Wish You Were Here".

Oh, the media will tell you that everybody cares about Michael Jackson, they
stopped the world to tell you about it, it was on EVERY TV channel, every
radio station, every Web portal homepage.  But people aren’t going to be talking
about the trial next week, if it even stays on their mind until the end of
tomorrow.  But Pink Floyd endures.  Not because of the hype, but because of the
music.

Come July 2nd, America’s youth is going to be in front of the TV.  Watching
their heroes perform.

Not long thereafter, Floyd’s entire show will be available on P2P sites. 
Major label majordomos will speak of piracy, but really this will be about
spreading the word, keeping the music and spirit alive.  Because great music is
meant to be UBIQUITOUS!  It’s not supposed to be marketed like fish, in a
controlled manner, rather it must be set free, like one of the flying pigs in Floyd’s
old show.  Oh, I don’t mean the music should be free, hell, a FINANCIAL
BONANZA could be reaped by exacting a toll on these P2P trades.  But, don’t be
shortsighted, doing good works, getting life force in people’s hands today pays
dividends tomorrow, which the pricks at the labels seem to have forgotten.  Used
to be the label was a midwife, aiding the band in birthing their baby, and
bringing it into the world.  Today the label is a dictator, exacting conformity
and killing art.

I’m not the biggest Pink Floyd fan.  I own most of the albums, paid for them
myself in fact, but I rarely spin them.  Still, when I hear "Comfortably Numb"
I get this feeling…of hope and understanding.  It reminds me of an era when
musicians ruled the world, only by following their muse.

I will be in front of the TV on July 2nd too.  Witnessing history.