My inbox is filling up with angry naysayers telling me I’ve got no idea who Peter Gabriel is (although for some reason they seem to know, even though they’ve never met him), and the new album is great and I need to STFU and crawl back into the hole I came out of.

Talk about missing the point.

Myopia, always makes me laugh.

Did you watch any of that abortion of a debate between DeSantis and Newsom last night? What a waste of time. They both lost. All the scuttlebutt today is how DeSantis cheated, with a teleprompter and visual aids and that Hannity was biased and had a conservative agenda, but what struck me most is how this ridiculous endeavor would change no minds, wouldn’t speak to the core issue in America today, which is that we’ve got two sides, operating with their own principles and beliefs, that hate the other team with a passion, believes they’re delusional and say they can prove it.

I mean it’s hard to believe in Newsom when he can’t even answer the question. Tell me why population went down in California, won’t you Gavin? It’s true, what’s your take? Avoiding the question just makes you look bad.

And let’s be very clear, no one likes to pay taxes, but with them come services. So, in comparing California to Florida, that’s the main advantage, what you get for your money, which is services. Is California perfect, of course not. But even Newsom was afraid to talk about the Democratic philosophy of a safety net, of taxes for quality of life, believing this is anathema, playing into the right wing agenda…once again the Democrats are playing by Republican rules. If you can’t own your identity, you’re screwed. What did they used to say, “I’m black and I’m proud”? Can’t you be proud you pay into the government, that you’re all for government help, are we all supposed to lift ourselves up by our own bootstraps?

So you’re a fan of Peter Gabriel, you’ve listened to the new album. Isn’t this exactly what I said would happen? But you need to bark back anyway, believing if you yell loud enough you can shout me down. I’m laughing at you, because you’re displaying your ignorance, TAKE THAT! If I played by your rules I could never say anything.

As for this emotional defense of Peter Gabriel…

There you have music in a nutshell. No one passionately defends a TV show, or a movie. Maybe there are some still defending authors, yet that’s far from mainstream. But people are dying to believe in artists, they want the artist to fulfill them, and we’ve got a whole industry that ignores this bond, we serve pablum from sellouts who can’t stop testifying that they owe it all to their fans, when the last thing they’d want to do is hang with these great unwashed, that’s why they become stars, so they don’t have to.

Authenticity, credibility. This is what people are hungry for. But the percentage participants, the labels, pooh-pooh this. You can’t leave any money on the table, you must take advantage of every opportunity, otherwise the percentage participant won’t get paid! As for the consumer…no one is thinking about them whatsoever, they’re there to be ripped-off. There should be a law against releasing the same damn album with multiple covers. First and foremost most people never play this physical product, they don’t even have the equipment, but their belief is so strong that they have to have everything…until they don’t, because you broke their trust.

Peter Gabriel is a credible artist who has a strong bond with his audience. Which is smaller than ever before. As for reaching new people, I don’t see any effort at all. And if you’re a creator, and most complaining are not, the number one goal is to have your art exposed and consumed, it’s more important than money, the only person who says otherwise is Gene Simmons, and I don’t even believe him.

If we told Peter Gabriel for a quarter of the income four more times the people would listen to his record he’d take that deal in a heartbeat. But he’s got a blind spot, he doesn’t know how to reach more people, he made the product and stopped. As for his rabid fans, it’s a closed circle, a limited group, if it keeps Peter alive, fine, but don’t tell me to be impressed. Peter recently toured and most people were completely unaware of it, and that’s Peter’s fault. Not the label’s fault. Not the publicist’s fault. And don’t tell me Peter doesn’t care, this is what he cares about most! Like an actor or producer wanting to have their movie seen. What do they always say? The studio didn’t do enough promotion, or the right promotion. And in music you do the promotion yourself, you’re responsible, and that was my point.

But you need to shut me down from the get-go. Many people said they didn’t read beyond the first line. This is like the e-mail I get all the time, castigating me for not mentioning something WHEN I DID! You took the time to bust my balls, you needed to put me in my place, but as far as actually reading what I said, you didn’t have time for that. So that’s a reflection on you, not me.

I write this damn stuff almost every day, believe me I’m an expert in response, I know the game. I know if you listen to the audience you’re screwed, you have to do what you think is right. And sometimes you hit the target and sometimes you don’t. And if there was no success it was your fault. Maybe what you wrote or played wasn’t that good. Or it was the wrong time. You accept this and move on. Or, you complain, like the wusses. But even worse, these wusses have fan bases that will tell anybody who crosses the object of their desire that they’re a loser lunatic. And this is not only in music, it’s across society, in all verticals. And the weird thing is those who have something to say that is worth hearing shut up for fear of the blowback. So everybody loses. The minority seems to control the dialogue, when it doesn’t.

As for the truth, you can’t handle the truth.

Ergo putting your hands over your ears and hating on me.

What a joke.