Wants to believe.

I just finished reading the Eagles story in "Rolling Stone". Halfway through I wondered why. I decided it was because it was written by Charles M. Young, one of the legendary second wave "Rolling Stone" writers, and because I cared, I had an investment. I’d bought the debut on a whim, knowing it contained "Take It Easy", but discovering it contained not only "Witchy Woman", but "Earlybird" and "Tryin’". I bought the follow-up because that’s what you did. Buying the debut was like purchasing stock, owning a piece of the band, you were devoted, you didn’t need to hear a new single to be convinced, you purchased the follow-up without hearing it first. "Desperado" was just another cut, on a failed album, financially. But I purchased the third record, which had "My Man" but wasn’t quite as good, and then the band broke through and started to be hated for its wimpy ballads. That’s what success breeds, hatred. But I soldiered on. I bought "One Of These Nights", and on the day it came out, "Hotel California". When I dropped the needle and sound started pouring out of the brand new stereo I purchased as a reward for attending law school, I was stunned. The track was not on the radio, hipsters were not debating the band… Everywhere I went I told people about this one track… That they had to hear the new Eagles album.

I guess that’s what had me reading the "Rolling Stone" article. My sense of belonging.

We all want to belong. Be a member of the club. Participate. That’s what bringing everybody to MySpace and Facebook, never mind dating sites. We feel the connection will cause our lives to make sense. Rock and roll made my life make sense.

I feel the gulf between today’s musical artists and the audience. Today’s stars feel entitled, they believe they’re from a different class, they create perfect electronic compositions that slide right off us. They’re hyped by the mainstream media, you can hire a quarterback versed in the game on a project by project basis if you don’t have or don’t want a major label deal, but we just can’t relate. It’s all gloss and no substance. All Saran Wrap with no story.

And we want the story. In the lyrics. In the mental movies the music generates. And the history of the music makers underneath.

It’s not about the gotcha moment, topless and drunk at the beach, but the events that caused them to write these songs, their and ultimately our personal truth. How did they get from here to there? What can we learn from the journey? Sure, there’s fame involved, but also reverence.

To be revered you have to get in bed with your audience. You cannot keep people at arm’s length. You don’t belong to your record company, to radio, but your fans. This doesn’t mean you have to be without edge, just that you know without this relationship you’ve got nothing. Truly. Listen to the country stars. Not only do they thank their fans from the stage, they tend to be available, whether it be at Fan Fair or another event. The audience thinks they own them. And rewards them with longevity. I don’t think I own Mariah Carey. Or Madge. Or Fitty. I think the dollar owns them. And the klieg light. They’re beholden to the money and the fame. And they feel entitled to continued success. But it doesn’t work that way, we determine whether you get to continue to play. Live Nation may say Madonna’s tour is an almost instant sellout, but they don’t tell you they had two additional dates on hold in Boston, that will never go on sale.

This music is not evanescent. It’s part of our collection. We carry it in various formats, everything from vinyl to cassette to MP3… Not that we truly need a copy, because it’s embedded in our brain, our DNA, it’s part of us.

That’s what the classic acts had over today’s…belief. Sure, it was a different era, they were making it up as they went along. But maybe that’s why we stayed with them, we felt part of it. We weren’t being sued by the RIAA, we weren’t being ripped off by TicketMaster, we weren’t being raped by the bands themselves with exorbitant merch fees. We don’t want to steal from you, we want to own you. Every little bit of you. We need you. To keep going.