The hype is deafening, but will Jesse Welles break through? Not according to Spotify, where his streams are anemic. But I keep getting e-mail from people telling me he’s the great folk rock protest hope. So I checked him out. You’re going to be immediately put off by his voice. I know, I know, Bob […]

I had the privilege of working with David between 2000 – 2003 in his “Harry Smiths” era. We played at the Bottom Line once a month and other NY area venues- and a short European tour. There’s 2 albums “David Johansen and the Harry Smiths” recorded on Chesky records. They were both recorded at St. […]

Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0g5Q91cZOhHEUWdmoS1C3N?si=89b7c7d59771476f 1 He was a survivor. Until he wasn’t. I won’t say he reinvented himself as much as Bowie or Madonna, then again Johansen was forced to, because nothing he seemed to do broke through, rained down cash. So if you were a child of the sixties, you didn’t want to go into […]

The audience is hipper than the musicians. The internet not only broke news, it broke music. First came the loss of ubiquity. You just can’t reach everybody. Kind of like the Democrats complaining that the Republicans are not reading the “New York Times.” THEY HAVE ALTERNATIVES! Ditto on cable news, never mind the endless niches […]