They used to dominate the music landscape. People who were the “other,” who seemed to march to a different drummer, whose values were different from those of the rat race.

Like Woody Guthrie. Like Bob Dylan. Like the Rolling Stones.

Sure, eventually the Stones became members of the glitterati, but we laughed about it, how we invaded the upper reaches of society, how things were on our terms now.

They haven’t been on our terms for quite a while.

I was listening to Barry Diller on “Recode/Decode” and his attitude made me puke. Like he single-handedly could give back to society. How about if he paid more taxes and we built it! He knew everybody, from Gates to Bezos, and kept testifying about the good they’d done in society, talked about how Zuckerberg was gonna figure it out and when confronted with “billionaire bashing,” he was essentially silent.

Billionaire bashing, We used to revere the wealthy, pay fealty to them, want to be like them, rich, in private planes, raping and pillaging…

That’s right, too many of these supposed “job-creators” took and took, especially jobs, and then gave little back.

Kinda like Trump. That’s how he got elected, he was supposedly a billionaire and he knew better. Now we know he doesn’t know nearly anything at all. As for his supporters…they believe in the racism he promotes, the anti-immigrant screeds, but they didn’t have to get these positions from him, then again, maybe they’re southern rednecks or prairie people left behind as the country moves forward, just like the denizens Charlie Daniels sang about before he became a Republican. That was the word in the sixties…you’d better not bring your long hair and coastal values to the south or you will pay a price, it’s the same today.

And the right wing rose up under Trump, and then what ensued was a BACKLASH!

That’s what we’re talking about here. To piss the right off, I’ll call it the payment for forty years of Reaganomics. Let the rich run free and it’ll trickle down to the poor. How’s that working for the underclass, for the middle class…IT’S NOT!

Therefore you see the rise of progenitor Elizabeth Warren. And then AOC. These people came from the outside and insiders hate them. AOC toppled a long-established Congressman for her seat. They’re not doing it to get rich, to become a lobbyist, to go to work at the corporate law firm, rather they’re standing up for what’s right, remember that?

Doesn’t matter if you disagree. If you’ve got a problem with Warren’s roots. The country is against you. The country is pissed and motivated and so far, the stars are not musical. Michelle Obama got the biggest applause at the Grammys. And Walter White did everything to help his family, he didn’t want aid from his rich friend who ripped him off.

Standards, principles, they’re out the window.

But now they’re back.

Music is in such a bad place. All we’ve got is moneygrubbers at the top of the chart. As for rebelling…I’m not talking about getting in trouble with the law.

We’re gonna get a whole new set of stars. More like Jason Isbell than Lil Yachty.

That’s how they came up with the “rock star” moniker. People who could do it their way outside the constraints of society. Wreck hotel rooms and then pay the bill. Leave hundreds of thousands behind, and fly back to England. Sure, Led Zeppelin’s music was great, but the myth was even better.

And John Lennon proclaimed the Beatles bigger than Jesus. Now winners at award shows keep thanking God, even though facts tell us our nation is moving toward atheism. Just another way performers are out of touch.

But everybody is making beats and rapping while the truly creative have jettisoned their dreams and are working hard in the straight world just to make a buck.

This is the shift. After the pushback. We want more honest performers. Refusing to play for oligarchs, standing up for people as well as animals.

The ship turns slowly, and then it’s completely turned around.

That’s the point we’re getting to today.

The vapid artists will be history overnight, just like almost all were at the advent of the Beatles.

Oh, who am I kidding. Music has gone from a leading enterprise to picking up the crap after the elephants, not realizing the circus has been canceled.

The labels only support what already sells and the streaming services take no responsibility for breaking new acts and the public goes underserved, which is why they’re getting behind politicians, addicted to the news. Meanwhile, all we’ve got is the 808, an ancient sound, and songs about lifestyle.

The RBG movie is a phenomenon, but its song can’t make it on today’s hit parade.

Authenticity. Marching to the beat of your own drummer. Money subservient to message. Hell, Dylan’s “Dont Look Back” is more popular now than it was when it was made. Why? Because Dylan refuses to cave, to play the game.

We need fewer game players.

It takes a long time to start a new movement in today’s fractured society. Took decades for the pushback to arrive. But it’s happening. And we’re gong to see the effects in the music business. It won’t come from the suits, but people who resist them.

You don’t need to be rich to be intelligent. You don’t need to have a college degree to make a statement. You don’t have to play by the rules to win the game.

But it takes a special individual to do this.

They’re coming.