I read this article about Tide:

“Tide Already Dominates Detergent. Why Is P&G Pushing a New Version? – The company controls about 60% of the market, but won’t stop reinventing. Now, it’s betting the future of laundry is ’tiles.'”

https://www.wsj.com/business/tide-laundry-soap-procter-gamble-2938e8b6

https://apple.news/A43i010C7TpOk1pHMBgFdnQ

Tide was introduced in 1946, before that Procter & Gamble purveyed Duz and Oxydol, which were juggernauts. Bottom line, the introduction of Tide would kill those two products, and it did.

And now, the standard of laundry detergent is those Tide pods. You know, the little two-toned balls that you have to make sure kids don’t swallow.

But now Tide is introducing these Triscuit-type tiles? They look like a step backward, but the truth is that they couldn’t push Tide forward technologically with the pod product. Ergo, the tiles.

This whole article is about Procter & Gamble disrupting itself. It’s Clayton Christensen’s “Innovator’s Dilemma” in action. But it’s not a young tech company, but an old company selling soap…

And this made me think about record labels.

Now the labels were disrupted by Napster back at the turn of the century. People predicted their demise, but this never happened, primarily because of their catalogs. And now, more than ever, catalog music, old music, is keeping these now-consolidated companies alive. When it comes to new music, there’s no innovation whatsoever.

Now I’ve got to give the majors credit for buying the indie distribution companies, distribution is king, and if you own the pipeline…never mind getting the data, you can amplify that which gains traction. But as far as building it from scratch?

The major labels are categorically unable to do that. They OWNED new music production, but now they can’t break an act and the indies keep gaining market share.

So what do the major labels do?

Cut staff and release fewer and fewer records in ever more dwindling categories. Sure they’ll tell you they work DSPs, do their best on social media, but they’ve still got big radio departments, to a great degree it’s the same as it ever was. They’re resting on their laurels when they need to disrupt themselves in order to maintain their power. And they’re not, which is why they’re losing power.

Today lasting acts are built on the road. Live Nation is in the artist development business more than any major label.

But the major labels could change course.

Instead of waiting for acts to break themselves, to make noise on social media, gain a following, major labels could search out great talent. They’re not even in this business today, it’s all commerce all the time. It’s kind of like the movie studios who are focused on superheroes and horror, they’re not serving up anything for so much of the public, especially oldsters.

But records are so much cheaper to make.

So labels should be searching out talent that is…TALENTED! New and different. And commit to these acts for a period of time and product, it used to be five albums over five years. So that the act can evolve and people can gravitate to them.

You don’t hear a single?

Forget the single. The single has never had less of the market. The focus should be on careers, acts testing limits, innovative musicians who have something to say.

No one is absolutely sure what will catch on with the audience, which is why you have to take risk. But today the majors are risk averse. They’re just protecting their market share doing it the way they always have, the opposite of Procter & Gamble and Tide.

And P&G has so many people working in R&D, after all this represents the future. Meanwhile, if it doesn’t contribute to the bottom line immediately, the major label has excised it.

The major labels need more A&R people. Not paid that much, who penetrate scenes, go on the hunt for new trends, who get their finger on the pulse, who sign thinking artists who will push the envelope.

Look at it like Netflix. It became a behemoth by putting out a plethora of product. Netflix puts out a comedy special a week. HBO? Every once in a while. And now Netflix owns comedy.

And not all of Netflix’s standup specials are great, but when you give someone a chance, you never know what they’ll deliver.

A great artist is rarely a great business person. They need help. A manager and a label. But the deal must be different, financially fair. All upside.

I’d pay attention if a major label nurtured an act that was outside the Spotify Top 50 musically and promoted it. We are looking for gatekeepers! Now we’ve got a vast online audience overwhelmed with musicians seeking attention when most of them don’t deserve it. Please, please, please sign something worth my attention, worth my time, and point me to it.

I don’t need another me-too rapper, or built by committee pop star. Hell, stop swinging for the fences. Almost everything worth paying attention to grows slowly and evolves, and the audience wants to go along for the ride, see the changes.

This is what the Beatles did.

But in the sixties record labels didn’t expect every album to be gigantic, they recorded them on a budget and tried to hook the audience up with the music.

And we were constantly surprised. Stuff that seemed completely uncommercial broke wide.

Those days need to return.

But it will only happen if the majors disrupt themselves, change their systems. Fire the dead wood. Flatten the pay scale. Make everybody think they’re in it together. Get people looking for new music instead of just promoting priorities.

A few innovative acts lift all boats.

But the majors are not doing this, they’re promoting the same dreck and the public knows it. Diva schmiva. Deliver someone who has something to say who makes the audience think. Someone who makes music that confounds people. Something that makes people talk about the music itself as opposed to ticket and merch sales.

We need to bring excitement back to music.

And to do this, we need a total reset regarding discovery and promotion.

But everybody at the labels is baked into the old ways. Sans their catalogs, the majors would be wiped out by innovative new music enterprises. They could disrupt themselves, but they’re not even trying to do this. They’re focused on financial engineering, when they should be focused on emotions, feelings… Just because some nitwits keep buying crap that doesn’t make it good.

Don’t focus on riches and fame, focus on music. Don’t hype, deliver.

Or maybe some hedge fund will come along and realign the whole company. Yes, hedge funds have a bad rep, but the truth is they evaluate a company, cut fat and create something shiny and new that is so efficient and hot that they flip it.

Meanwhile, major label stocks go down.

Think about it.

My oldest daughter just turned 41.  She was conceived in a Chevy van with the mural from the Relayer album on the side.  I still can’t get her to enjoy Yes.

Al Jones

Covington, LA

________________________________

Glad you got to see Jon with the Band Geeks. Check out “perpetual change” which is their live album.  It’s remarkable and the best interpretation of Yes music since the early 70’s.   Gates of Delerium is unreal….wish they’d play that again live.

Lee Abrams

________________________________

LOVE this!
I am a diehard YES fan going back over 50 years.
Last weekend we had my high school 50th reunion, class of 76.

I looked at the yearbook and my senior quote was “I’ve seen all good people turn their heads each day so satisfied, I’m on my way”

Steve Gerardi

________________________________

Over the years, Yes seemed to slow down the pace of the music.

The Band Geeks play the music with energy!

Great decision by Jon Anderson.

Gary Berlak

________________________________

I have not had the pleasure of seeing Jon with the Band Geeks, but a few years ago I caught him in concert with kids from the Paul Green School of Rock. It was magical watching these young teens gathered around him playing classic Yes songs. They sounded really great, and through it all, Jon had this look on his face of unbridled joy. When they finished playing “Heart of the Sunrise” I looked at my friend next to me and he was tearing  up.

I’ve seen many incarnations of Yes over the years, but Jon and these kids was one of the best.

Regards,
Rod Henry

________________________________

YES! Jon’s band is MUCH better than the Steve Howe tribute that is currently on the road

Larry Shockley

________________________________

Well put, Bob.

The work that Jon has been doing with The Band Geeks only goes to show that Yes needs Jon Anderson more than Jon Anderson needs Yes.

While it’s nice to see Yes making new albums without Anderson, they lack his unique qualities that made Yes music sound like ‘Yes’. Even during the Trevor Rabin era, Jon’s presence kept that incarantion of the band valid.

The irony is the new Yes line-up continues to record new songs but then go and tour with sets that are almost entirely full of classic songs that Jon Anderson was a significant part of creating.

I doubt we’ll see Anderson’s return to Yes, given Steve Howe is cleaarly happy with calling all the shots with Chris and Jon out of the way.

In the meantime, Jon is still making great music and The Band Geeks are a perfect fit for him to continue to make new music and deliver the the kind of performances that the current Yes is lacking.

Lee Elliott

________________________________

So glad you went to see them.  Yes was always music that had to be experienced and not explained.  The music is grand and majestic, and I believe that, as a group, they were one of the “classical” composers of our time.  Jon was the center of it, so even though he lost the name due to political and business issues, he is still the soul of Yes music.  His voice is still distinct and angelic, and his beautiful abstract lyrics evoke imagery and spiritual messages that transcend rock and roll.  The Band Geeks have rejuvenated him and at this point are stronger players than what passes for the “official” branded Yes band.  Although they do not have the presence and  flair of Chris Squire or Rick Wakeman (who does?), they bring the energy and musicianship of the originals.

I’m looking forward to seeing them as they make their way up the coast this week.  I always go as often as I can.  As with all from that era, you never know when it will be the last.

Best regards,

Andrew Mehlman

________________________________

Yes changed the way I thought about music and what a “rock” band was capable of.

I was 14 when Close to the Edge came out and, as has been noted, that’s the key age to really fall in love with music that seems to be directly transmitted to you, you are like a sponge letting it seep into you, your persona, your dreams, your emotions.

They remain my favourite band all these years later, I suppose they are my “Beatles”, comparing the impact that the fab 4 had on people just a bit older.

The fact that Anderson still goes for (and hits!) those high notes is remarkable – I saw this tour in Troy NY last month. The Band Geeks can play that stuff in the correct keys and at the correct tempos, something the Steve Howe version struggles with.

Glad you felt it too Bob, I am not ashamed to say that “Awaken” moved me to tears, not many songs can do that.

Mark Hudson

________________________________

Love Yes. I was there for the world premiere of ClTTE in London, Sept 1972. Many years later I was at Armoury Studios in Vancouver working with Yes on The Ladder, hearing the story of Yes almost falling apart during that performance of CTTE. It was the first time they made it through the whole song!

Jon is a wonder. Thx for remembering..

Cheers,
Drew Arnott

________________________________

Prog is on the rise, you must know that. The kids are getting involved and my guess is that the young musicians want more.

I went to a concert by The Musical Box, the outstanding Genesis tribute band ( endorsed by the original members) and it was encouraging how many youngsters under 30, sh*t, under 20 were at the show.

Fritz Doddy

________________________________

Completely agree. Yes morphed multiple times but Jon was almost always the constant.  This was a great show. We may be old AKs but we know good music (and today’s drivel sure isn’t)  regards-Doc Blues

Mark Gresser

________________________________

This reminded me that during the 70’s heyday, it was not unusual for local bands to play these songs. During my freshman week in Bloomington, I saw a band play a Yes medley followed by a Jethro Tull medley. As a fan of both, I knew the tracks inside out and these guys were good. It blew my mind. I also saw a local Nashville band called Sweetwater, including Adrian Belew, play a faithful but high energy version of “Getting Better”. Amazing! Hearing great young musicians play this music live with live energy was thrilling.

Robert Bond

________________________________

In about 1976 or 77, I taped a live Yes concert off the radio (on cassette) . For an encore they did “Every Little Thing” and it was fantastic. Listened to that tape many times.

Perry Resnick

________________________________

It was one of THE best concerts period. Doesn’t matter who or what music is liked past or present.  The point he makes about not bs dancers or light show or madonna/gaga set changes, it was pure pure pure music and the best of it.  The Band Geeks IS YES, not Howe’s cover band.  Jon hasn’t changed since I first saw him in their first show in LA 1971!  He’s no less an angel if one believes and even if one doesn’t like most of us.

The crowd was NOT all grey haired oldsters, no idea why he said that.  Even my kids and grands know YES.  Rick and Trevor are always missed but we got their soul and even more…rock and amazing solos were jaw dropping.  And his mention of a few new songs??? OMG, TRUE is a magnificent album and everyone knew those songs as well.  He waved a peace symbol rainbow flag, because we did see All Good People…and it’s PRIDE month!!!!!!!

Anyway, other than the YES show in the Round at the Forum, this was at least equal in talent, music, fans, love,  The FOH sucked which is weird for this theater but sound guys….  yet, other than a few mishaps by them, sound at Kavli is great.

Jon is a Treasure in the Music World and we were blessed to once again be with him.

Robin Rose

________________________________

I am so glad you got to see this show. It’s been touring for a couple of years now and I’ve been blown away. I couldn’t put my finger on it, how it was different from other old acts out on tour, and you’ve done a great job describing how and why it is. I am/was a casual Yes fan. Although I was all in during the Trevor Rabin era. But this collaboration with the Band Geeks really show what a genius Anderson is. He really does have the pipes. It’s crazy. And the backstory of how they got together is just as good as the Journey/Arnel story.

Much credit should be given to bassist Richie Castellano who has been in Blue Oyster Cult for 20 years or something like that.

The album of new songs that was released last year has some great stuff on it too.

Happy you discovered the secret of Anderson/BandGeeks.

Quint Randle

________________________________

Howe and Squire made a grave error removing Anderson from the band. I’m sure Davison comes much cheaper, so there’s less money to split up.

But this is not a Journey situation. We all know that Anderson can still bring it In fact, these days, Pineda is having trouble doing so at age 58. So when you see “Yes” these days, every syllable of the singing is wrong, and everyone in the band is old and slow.

Not these guys.

So dumb. Someone needs to tell Howe that:

Time is running out. We want to hear that guitar and Anderson’s voice while we still can.

There are two numbers: 1) the percentage he gets – obviously higher these days without a Squire, White, Wakeman, or an OG Anderson to split it up with and, 2) the total revenue from the shows that his percentage is multiplied against.

Let’s say he’s generous and gives the rest of the current “Yes” 40%. Great. He’s making 60% of the revenue instead of 30%, of two-three times as much, while disappointing and/or pissing off fans and ruining his legacy as a resullt. I have to think that they’d be playing, at a minimum, 3,000-seaters instead of these tiny theaters they play in now.

You nailed it – we go to Jon and the Geeks to see a real Yes, played energetically with the vocal vibrations that nail the lyrics and the tunes. Basically, the guy who still has his pipes is playing with younger people who nail all the instrumental parts with all of their chops. That the greed of Howe allows him to think anyone is fooled by plastering the logo on the current line-up is pretty galling, as much as we love him too.

BTW, that’s a great observation – there are no bathroom songs on a Yes setlist. There has never have any.

Gary Lang

________________________________

The show was indeed tremendous, incredible, excellent, one of the best concerts I’ve seen in many a moon and I love going to concerts!

I’ve seen a lot of flack on social about how terrible the sound was- the sound to my ear was incredible and excellent, some of the best I’ve heard in a concert venue stetting- although the mixer did miss MANY sound cues including the first few words out of Jon Anderson’s voice. Near the end of Starship Trooper the guitarist was nearly inaudible for a good chunk of the song, not even close to the level it should have been so there were some odd and puzzling choices if that’s what you could call them… but what I could hear for most of the show was excellently balanced.

Cheers,

Michael Stern C.A.S.
New Toys / New Gear Editor
Music Connection Magazine

________________________________

When Jon couldn’t tour due to health reasons, YEs went out and found a singer from a tribute band (then did it again a few years later).  Jon just got a whole tribute band to back him up, which seems much more authentic, given that he wrote and sang most of the songs to start with.

And thanks for the Gentle Giant mention!

Sky Wallace

________________________________

I’ve seen every version of Yes since 1979. It’s the music, the people and the live show. The very best players, playing complex music you remember.

Yea I’ve been a fan boy for years. And listen to the catalog all the way thru at least once a year.
Not tired of it yet

Bob Maggio

________________________________

I saw Jon Anderson and the Band Geeks in April and—yes—they aren’t Yes—but they are BETTER than the last version of the “real” Yes that I saw play (sans Anderson) a few years ago.  That official Yes was sloppy and disappointing. So hearing Jon? With this crack pot band? Way better.

And Bob— these guys deserve to have their names mentioned: Richie Castellano, Andy Ascolese, Andy Graziano, Rob Schmoll, Christopher Clark, and Robert Kipp. These guys are serious players; and yet another testament to the “new” model of music success, where people play their hearts out on YouTube and then find their way to playing with big name artists….Long live prog!

thanks,

Mark Feldman

Boston

________________________________

Both Jon Anderson and Rush prove it every night they’re onstage. I’d venture to say this kind of music *is* actually timeless. Never made for the charts, just for the listeners. Just as vibrant to my ears today as when I bought the original LPs (and CDs — and now LPs again).

Why is their respective reach expanding? Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson said it to me during one of our interviews back in the early ’90s, to the effect of: “Listeners like you championed us and started writing about us once you turned professional.” We didn’t care what the rock-critic cognoscenti said about bands like Rush, Yes, King Crimson, Nektar, Camel, Caravan, etc… we *loved* that music, and it was — and still is — damn good. And now, a generation-plus after mine are finally able to discover this special, mystical kind of music alchemy firsthand.

To springboard from something you semi-rhetorically wondered, I do feel the music made by artists like Jon Anderson and Rush is *our* classical music: Intricate, layered, involving, challenging, and constantly revealing.

I look forward to seeing Rush in August, and I’ll see them as many times as I’m able. Ditto Jon Anderson — and Nektar too, for that matter.

Now get out there and rock… and roll the bones.

Mike Mettler

Analog Planet

________________________________

You’re so right about losing interest in a band when they lose a member who may have not been a main cog of the band…When Neal and Jon (or as I call them The Dimmer Twins) fired Ross and Smitty from Journey… I was out… way out… to the point of not even listening anymore…that’s just the way I’m wired…

 

Was always a casual fan of YES but I’m pretty sure I’d love this show… especially knowing Jon Anderson still has the pipes!

Tom Clark

________________________________

I also think a lot about the same things you think about Bob.

Why was it so different back then? Why did the music mean so much?

So I believe all of the following.

The music touched my soul. It was earth shaking when I heard something amazing.

I remember exactly where I was the first time I heard Dr. Wu from Steely Dan. It hit so hard it is never forgotten.

Same for Beatles, Procol Harum, The Band, and so many others.

It wasn’t for the money. It was for the creation…for the love of it all.

It had never been done before. New ground, new sounds were being created and boundaries were constantly being broken.

There was integrity. There was hope. There was love. Music brought us together.

It’s much harder now.  Music isn’t even taught in many schools any more. We are totally distracted.

It’s difficult to find the great music. It’s still out there….but I am tired now. It’s a real effort to find anything and get past the cesspool

of advertising that we have devolved into.

But I still look and listen, and often the older bands and songs resonate in a way that was unique to the times in which it was written.

Leigh Goldstein

________________________________

From many:

Rick Wakeman was NOT on The Yes Album

He joined at Fragile…

(Of course)

________________________________

The 805 will surprise ya!

Michelle Jacobs

People have no idea how hard it is to make it.

Never mind sustain.

The spin on this film is what an a**hole Maurice White was.

But that’s not what I took, because I know people who are icons are not like the average person, they’re one-minded and dedicated, their dreams are almost too big to share, people will laugh at them, and every single one of them is f*cked up, they’ve got something to prove, they believe that success will solve all their problems, acknowledgement will connect them to people, make up for the heartbreak in their past, but this is untrue. And when most acts realize this, they can never do what made them great ever again, they just can’t get up the motivation.

I missed it.

History is constantly being rewritten by those who weren’t there. By time you hit the mid-seventies, actually a few years before, music was bifurcated, into FM rock and AM Top 40. Of course there was Black radio and country, but the first two were the behemoths. And rarely did they cross paths.

No, an FM track could occasionally cross over to AM, but the reverse was impossible, Top 40 was everything FM stood against. FM was not only the song, but the story of the band, what it all meant, whereas on AM radio it was usually the hit only.

And the big money in touring was hoovered up by the acts on the FM dial. Today pop hits can sell tickets, but not back then. Maybe coming off a few big hits, while you were still hot, you could play arenas, but sans a hit in the marketplace, better to look for dinner theatre, some other way to make bread.

So if you were a dedicated follower of fashion, which in this case meant the same clothes bands wore on the street, you listened to FM rock and nothing else.

Let’s remember, by time we hit the mid-seventies, every car had an FM radio, and probably a tape deck too. In the late sixties, even though FM rock was breaking, most of its fans were still listening to AM in the car, that was all they had. But by the mid-seventies…

Meaning, if it was a hit on the AM, there’s a good chance I never even heard it.

Oh, I was aware of Earth, Wind & Fire, if for no other reason than I saw their records in the bin. And the trade papers featured them, but… Black people in rock was rare, Prince made inroads and left his mark, but to this day, there ain’t a lot of color in rock, which has marginalized the genre.

But back then??

So when “Easy Lover” was a hit on MTV, I didn’t know who Philip Bailey was, I didn’t recognize him alongside Phil Collins.

Oh, I knew what Maurice White looked like, and I could name their hits, I knew the titles, but other than “Shining Star,” I couldn’t sing them because I didn’t know them.

So…

This movie was educational for me, I learned so much!

This doc is not like Questlove’s initial movie, “Summer of Soul.” That film had something to prove, a point to make, whereas here the story stands alone, the band is well-known and what we’ve got is a deep dive.

But not deep enough. I’d argue this could be a series. I want a whole episode on Maurice’s upbringing in Memphis. At this late date most music fans are aware of Nashville and its country roots, but Memphis? Same state, totally different mind-set. Memphis is the south, and even today I wouldn’t say it’s totally integrated. But so much great music came out of the city, and the funny thing is almost all these cats knew each other growing up, at least the Black ones.

Maurice’s mother abandons him at age five and moves to Chicago and starts another family. After high school Maurice moves up north, goes to the conservatory, but then becomes a drummer for Chess, and then goes out on the road with Ramsey Lewis. If you’re a child of the sixties, you know Lewis, if for no other reason than his version of “The In Crowd” was all over the radio. Chess? The English rockers always talked about it, but still…most people are unaware of what was going down there.

So Maurice decides to strike out on his own and moves to Los Angeles… Where there are Black hippies, a whole different lifestyle, I’d like to see an episode on that too!

And forms the original Earth, Wind & Fire, makes albums for Warner Bros. to no significant commercial success, and then…

Fires the band and starts over.

He knows it’s not working, he’s keeping his brother Verdine, the bassist, but nobody else. And they’re PISSED! Because the band members had no warning. They didn’t like how they were treated. They were blind-sided. This is a recurring theme when it comes to Maurice, because he hates confrontation. Most musicians do. They don’t want to piss anybody off, and they let their handlers be the heavies.

So Maurice forms a new band, with the members you know, and rehearses and they go do a show in Philly, where doo-wop groups were the openers, and when the crowd reacts negatively…the band sits on the floor in the lotus position, for minutes!

Oh yeah, Maurice is really touchy-feely. From astrology to Egyptology to wacko food… If you think only white people were into this…

But then the band opens for George Clinton-Parliament/Funkadelic and… Light applause for them, levitation when George hits the stage. They have footage, for those who only know P. Funk as a legend, this will clue you in on what was going on, the magic involved.

So they go back to the drawing board, hire a rhythm guitarist, become funkified…

And the hits begin.

Now there’s a huge focus on the live show, which doesn’t really work in the era of the internet. In the old days you had to go to experience it, there was no YouTube, you’d come home and tell your friends the details and drag them to the next concert, this is how audiences were built, this was the magic of live performance. Oh, we’ve got tons of production today, but the audience expects it and is rarely wowed.

Maurice hires a choreographer, and connects with Doug Henning for magic, and the show is legendary…

But not in my circles.

I actually remember pictures of the band on stage being encased in tubes, that are lifted to reveal them and set them free, but…

So Maurice is driven. Working twelve hours a day. Pushing the envelope, afraid to fall behind.

He brings in the arranger he met at Chess. He even brings in David Foster… The funny thing about Foster is he’ll deliver hits, but it frequently causes dissension in the band, and in some cases breaks up the band. He brought Chicago back to the chart, but the band members didn’t appreciate his efforts and never worked with him again. Foster delivered hits for the Tubes, and then the band broke up, they believed these records were not an accurate representation of who they were.

So Earth, Wind & Fire are superstars, playing arenas and stadiums. But they come back from every tour $500,000 in debt. The band members are being paid $2,500 a week and…

Sans Maurice, there’s no success. He breaks up the band, Philip Bailey returns to Denver, Ralph Johnson sells stereo equipment at Federated. Everybody believed these stars were rich. It was oftentimes a misperception, cash might have come in, but expenses were stratospheric, never mind all the money wasted along the way.

But Maurice can’t make it on his own, so he reforms the band and…

Maurice may be Black, he may be playing R&B, but he’s definitely a rock star. He believes he’s entitled to go on the road and screw other women. He needs to live like a king.

Until Parkinson’s knocks him off the road and ultimately kills him.

So what have we learned?

In my case, a whole hell of a lot more than I knew.

And it’s not like “Behind the Music,” because this film was not done to set up a reunion tour, but to document the history, the travails of Maurice and the band.

And it was Maurice’s band. As Philip Bailey says, every band has a leader. Who is oftentimes resented for his control, his power, but it was Maurice’s vision, and it worked.

So, this film was not done on the cheap. There are animated effects to tell the story when there is no footage, it’s extremely well done. And there was a ton of press when it came out, but now..?

HBO is not like Netflix. HBO MAX’s homepage is littered with all kinds of junk, whereas Netflix has one brand and promotes its best stuff and the algorithm will serve up stuff you might be interested in, that’s up your alley. So if you watched music documentaries in the past…

Now of course Boomers and Gen-X’ers who lived through the arc of Earth, Wind & Fire’s career will be curious, but it’s young-uns who will get the most from this flick. It demonstrates the twists and the turns on the road to success, what it takes.

Even I am watching wondering how this all works financially, with nearly ten people in the band. Today, bands are rare, everybody’s a solo act, you don’t have to share the bread. And when old acts reunite, oftentimes there’s only one or two key players, because they don’t want to share the money.

So if you’re sitting at home, thinking you want to be a musical star…

You’ve got GarageBand and Suno, maybe even Pro Tools, you have easy access to Spotify, et al. You’ve been exposed to TV competition shows. All this makes you believe that there’s a highway, and if you just get on the road, you’ll speed to success.

No way. You’ve got to be a special kind of person, willing to play without a net, risking all the while. You’ve got to supersede the system. You can’t wait for the suits to pick up on you, it only works if you’re one step ahead of the business, delivering that which the usual suspects can’t comprehend.

And you have to be willing to sacrifice so much, relationships… Almost no one is willing to walk the razor’s edge for the years it takes to align you with potential success. Maurice was a professional musician for years before he had a hit.

The bottom line is it’s even harder to be successful today, because the channel is clogged not only with music, but video games and social media and streaming television. And even the music of stars goes unheard by many.

The music business is not for amateurs. If you’re not willing to work hard and put everything on the line…

Hell, if you get an entry level job, know that you’ll be on call 24/7, there’s really no such thing as the weekend. And you’ll need to stay up late and oftentimes get up early. And as hard as the suits are working, the musicians are working that much harder.

This film will keep your attention. It’s not hagiography, it’s the straightforward story. If I was a member of Earth, Wind & Fire would I be pissed at Maurice? Absolutely! But without him, good luck.

This is the way it is.

Maurice won.

But did he really?

Watch the movie and you can decide.

You don’t want to fail in public.

This is why acts are wary of stretching to play larger venues. Nothing puts a stink upon your act like empty seats. Forget the buzz on the outside, the business and the social media scuttlebutt, the attendees are also turned off. What are they doing there if everybody else decided to stay home? Are they no longer hip? Sure, there’s always a hard core that sees its isolation from the rest as a badge of honor, but they don’t stage their events in stadiums.

Now if you were around in 1976…

It was a weird era. There’d been talk about the Bicentennial for years, but in the wake of Watergate everybody was still licking their wounds. The focus ultimately was on light and breezy, fun, no heaviness involved. Ford was now president and people didn’t want any disruption, they were sick of arguing. The war was finally over and it was only a few years before the go-go eighties. The late seventies is when the boomers grew up, looked in the mirror and questioned how they were going to get ahead in the future. It was no longer all for one. There was no common rallying cry. This is when the seeds of the hedonistic eighties were planted, not that we knew it at the time.

But one thing was for sure, everybody still believed in the American Dream, thought if they put their nose to the grindstone they could get ahead, and there was no doubt that America was the greatest country in the world. We were the land of opportunity, we ruled.

July 4, 1976 if not completely flat, certainly was not memorable.

But now it’s fifty years later and…

About twelve months back people stated talking to me about the events they were planning to celebrate the 250th birthday of our nation. Now you’ve got to know that events like this require a lot of heavy lifting, and a ton of money. Good intentions are not enough. And it’s hard to rally people around a generic rallying cry. Look at music festivals… They rarely start with a bang, you need to build them over years, convince the public they’re worth attending, so to plan for one day of events?

At least Trump had the right idea, to have an extended celebration.

But he could not read the room, he had more power than ever before, but despite the ability to quash naysayers, the passion for him and his projects was waning.

Now it’s the little things that get you in the end. The war in Iran? Still incomprehensible to most people. Americans famously lack passports, and many believe that Iran is a third world nation, even though that could not be further from the truth, and all they really want is for gas prices to come down and for inflation to be tamed.

But the algae in the Reflecting Pool…

Did the Reflecting Pool need fixing? Could be, but like with the destruction of the East Wing, we didn’t hear about it until it was happening, and the no-bid contract stuck in the craw of those leaning left, but it was business as usual.

Until the algae bloomed.

First there was the question of the cause.

But we were told the problem would be rectified quickly. And when this turned out not to be the case, it was blamed on bad actors, criminals…and if there’s one person who believes that, they must be related to Trump, or one of the naysayers in Congress.

The thing is when you take action, there’s always a potential for failure. Which is why it’s a fool’s errand to talk about cutting spending, making government smaller. Sure, do your best to control costs, but don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater, i.e. fire people and cancel plans. As for the public at large, they like government services, they don’t like to pay taxes, but you can’t have it both ways.

So now you’ve got a green Reflecting Pool with your mad next door neighbor coming out and blaming those pesky neighborhood kids.

What would even be the motivation? And it turns out if you were anywhere near the neighborhood, you were at risk of being arrested. Furthermore, with cameras everywhere, wouldn’t there be footage? And if not, why not?

So then it comes down to the two week celebration of America 250 on the Mall.

Some call it a World’s Fair.

But there’s a reason there hasn’t been a World’s Fair for eons, everything new can be displayed and experienced on the internet, you don’t have to travel to see something, you just have to log on.

As for a raw celebration/party…

I don’t know who came up with this fakakta idea, but it would have been better to get the experts involved. Hand concerts to AEG or Live Nation, which doesn’t seem like much of a stretch since Michael Rapino actually spoke with Trump.

And until you’ve established the gravitas of your festival, attendance is based on headliners. Who are the headliners?

One thing about the Bicentennial, everyone did their best to make it bipartisan. Then again, as much as we were divided, we were united by the resignation of Nixon, we were coming together. Meanwhile, J.D. Vance is now trying to rehabilitate Nixon, talk about rewriting history…

Then there were the musical acts… When they started to cancel, Trump could have done a mea culpa, said it was not a MAGA event, but instead he doubled-down, said he would be the headliner.

So now there was no talent and a great swath of the public was rubbed the wrong way.

As for coming to a carnival for booths and a Ferris wheel… In the modern era a Ferris wheel is not far away, nor are the booths that titillate you for a moment while they take your money.

And if you want to spend, who wants to go to D.C. in the summer? I mean if you really want to endure the heat, you’ll go to Disney World.

This was a foreseeable failure, and there could have been some course correction, but like last week with the housing bill, Trump is stonewalling.

Now in business they tell you not to do this, that it’s about the customer’s mind rather than the company’s. Nordstrom and Costco will take almost anything back, they want to keep a customer. But if you’re hemorrhaging customers… That’s the thing about businesses, they fade very quickly when the public starts to turn on them, especially in the modern world, where word of mouth is on steroids online.

It’s all about soft power. Feelings.

But Trump seemed to miss the memo.

Now whatever you think about Trump, pictures don’t lie. Scratch that, in the AI era, pictures lie all the time. But I’ve yet to see a deepfake showing the Mall crowded with attendees.

And it’s even worse, since so few people are there, there’s no FOMO amongst the rest of the populace.

So Trump is failing in plain sight. It’s not like he can declare bankruptcy and start over. America isn’t a business.

Now never in my lifetime have Americans been so misinformed. The truth is fungible, facts are up for debate. But the failure of the celebration on the National Mall is not. No one can defend it. But expect Trump to come out and blame someone for the failure imminently, like he did with the Reflecting Pool.

The truth is America is experiencing generational change, and neither the Republicans nor the Democrats truly see this, never mind want it or are effectively countering it, or god forbid embracing it.

The younger, digital-savvy generations, are taking over.

Meanwhile, everybody over the age of 50, especially those with a megaphone, can’t stop sh*tting on the internet and social media, digital communications. It’s just like our parents railed against rock music back in the sixties. Utterly laughable if you’re a youngster. You need to disrupt yourself to stay in power, but both parties are calcified.

Much of America is tuning out the D.C. circus.

But when the Reflecting Pool is green and the Mall is empty, only Karoline Leavitt could spin this positively. Everybody else cringes, if they don’t laugh outright. They see an out of touch Administration in an out of touch city. Maybe if they had rappers and influencers, maybe if they met the younger generations halfway…

But no, it’s Lee Greenwood or the equivalent twenty four seven. 

The game is to have plausible deniability.

But there’s no way Trump and his cronies can spin the disaster of the Great American State Fair positively.

And people may feel positive about Coachella, but they have mixed feelings about state fairs anyway.

What a disaster. Which will seep into Trump’s presidency just like algae took over the Reflecting Pool.