He gave himself seven months. Not Steve Barnett, but Sam Smith. That’s where I was, at Steve’s house, at a small luncheon introducing Sam. Sure, they played the music in the background, but I already had the album. I enjoyed talking to Rodney Jerkins. What’s strange about show business is everybody’s two-dimensional until you meet […]

Too much, too soon. We expected him to be a decrepit has-been in middle age, addicted to his drugs and his faded fame, but we didn’t expect him to flame out quite this quickly. Blame us. The music industry. We preyed on this naif and wanted to believe we could profit yet not be responsible. […]

Who’s gonna win the Grammy? I don’t give a shit. To think that the Grammys mean anything is to misunderstand the impact of the show. Your appearance could impact your career, a victory is barely more than meaningless. Come on, who won last year? The year before? So I don’t get caught up in the […]

Today I went where music lives. Downstairs they were rehearsing. Upstairs I was listening to Sam Smith. In the studio my buds Luke, Frampton and Don Was, supported by Kenny Aronoff, Greg Phillinganes and a complement of keyboardists and backup singers, were preparing for Ringo. Who entered at the appointed time, skinny and short-haired and […]