CREDIBILITY

Say what you mean and do not lie. Stand for something. Be trustworthy. It is the antidote to the duplicity pervading our society. Have only one face, not two. Do what’s right in your heart, not what right’s for your pocketbook. Be a paragon of honesty that others can point to and believe in. Dollars are powerful but the world is run by people and if you get your own house in order, stop complaining and start taking action, you’ll be stunned at the results that can be achieved.

TRUTH TO POWER

Leaders look for acknowledgement after the fact. They take a risk, they jump off the cliff based on what’s in their heart. They do not do focus groups, do not believe in research, but abide by their inner tuning fork. Everybody knows the truth, they’re just afraid to speak it out loud. But when someone does, others rally around them.

IGNORE THE NAYSAYERS

If everybody’s your friend you’ve got a problem, that just means you’ve tempered your approach to appeal to all, to not ruffle feathers. It’s the hooks in Velcro that make it work. You need rough edges, it’s your sharp points that will bond others to you. People have agendas, they want to drag you down into the hole they’re in, they want you to be a pawn in their game, and if you’re not wary, paying attention, skeptical, you’ll be dragged down with them.

TAKE A STAND

Fallon is out of time. Colbert stood up and his ratings soared. Today the L.A. “Times” excoriated Trump in a way heretofore unseen:

Our Dishonest President

Playing it safe evaporated with the last century, when the internet came along and disrupted the world. Everything’s up for grabs, we all have the means of communication at our fingertips, we’re all seeking guidance and solidarity and we don’t know where to look in a world where artists have abdicated and the monied are furthering their own agenda. You think you’re losing audience when you pick a side but the truth is you’re bonding people to you, and not everyone can be your fan, no way.

EDUCATE YOURSELF

Statistics can be twisted. Fake news abounds. But the truth is out there. You’re a citizen on the planet, it’s your duty to search out the truth, with open eyes, realizing you may find facts that are contrary to your beliefs. Fake news is for the uneducated unwilling to go deeper, you’re better than that. And I hate that expression, it’s utilized to make you feel inferior, appeal to a theoretical moral high ground, so whenever anybody says that to you, call them on their b.s. Too many self-righteous pricks lording their superiority over the rest of us for no good reason.

MAKE MONEY BUT DON’T BE A SLAVE PRAYING TO IT

There’s no harm in making a living, if you’re decrying someone’s lifestyle and assets on principle, the joke is upon you. The underclass is hurting and needs to be helped. But to feel better than others because you are broke is a sad state of affairs in which you ultimately lose. We want to lift all boats. Some abuse the system. Income inequality is the scourge of our system. But when you say you’re better because you’ve got less you just take yourself out of the game and force others into hiding. The best disinfectant for subterfuge is sunlight.

COMPLETE TASKS

Follow-through is everything in life. Finishing is its own reward. Life is about building blocks, one upon another, to create opportunity. You finish not so you can do the next foreseeable thing so much as being able to see the landscape from higher ground and encountering new possibilities.

RESPECT EXPERIENCE AND WISDOM

And feel free to disregard it after you’ve digested it, but those who’ve been there and done that are the best flashlights into the future, they know what questions to ask, they know where trouble lurks. If you always have to reinvent the wheel you’re never going to get to the destination.

BE AN INDIVIDUAL

It’s harder than it looks. Much more difficult that uploading a video to YouTube or a file to Spotify. Groupthink is ruining our country. Everybody wants to be a member of the club but no one questions whether the club has any worth. Beautiful people are a dime a dozen. As are college graduates. But someone who can parse the truth and articulate a path, rally those in support, is rare.

Max Martin decided to give back.

After dominating the airwaves for two decades with ear candy sans meaning he thought it was time to turn a corner, to go for the brass ring, to emerge from the slum and become not only an icon, but a legend.

Therefore, he hooked up with Bob Dylan.

No lie. The triple-disc standards package is a fake-out, a diversion, no different from “Self Portrait” decades back. I’ll admit, I fell for the scam, but now that I’ve heard the new track I’m doing a mea culpa, Zimmy still has it, he was paying attention always and just needed a nudge from Max to prove his dominance.

Did you read the Martin interview?

You should.

“World exclusive: Max Martin, #1 hitmaker”

Max packs his tracks with hooks. Which is why he triumphs and you don’t. My inbox is inundated with wannabes, who don’t realize that greatness is the sole criterion, and that you must be able to get a song after one second, multiple plays are just gravy.

So it all transpired after the Grammys. Credit the organization for getting everybody in town. And for a minute there, instead of getting everybody together a la Quincy Jones and “We Are The World,” there was the thought to do it virtually, with everybody logged in on Skype, but there’s a vibe and an energy when people are together so the action took place in a hangar at the Santa Monica Airport, so everybody could fly out private when it was completed. NetJets provided transport for those who don’t have their own planes, because the Berkshire Hathaway company also wanted to give back.

But first was the track.

Then came the lyrics.

It’s true, it’s true, Dylan worked with Max’s posse. But the secret sauce was Dr. Luke, back from the dead, recovering from the Kesha fiasco. He concocted the beats and Max just tuned them, with help from Shellback and all the rest of the usual suspects. Luke sees this as his comeback venture. Will the public forgive him?

Unclear.

As for the turn of the phrase, the icing on the cake, the zingers, the song doctor in this case was James McMurtry, the iconoclastic troubadour responsible for the last great protest hit, “We Can’t Make It Here.” They met through McMurtry’s dad, Larry. Dylan has known the writer forever.

But the lead singer is Justin Bieber.

Adele is out, she wasn’t called, this is positively an American venture, and, for the record, Max lives in L.A., as does seemingly everybody else outside of the country world, funny how the richies have taken over Manhattan and the city’s lost culture in the process.

Pissed that he was not called to headline Coachella, Bieber insisted on singing the first verse. As for the rest…

Yes, there were some usual suspects, the people Max has worked with before. Katy Perry does a turn, but wait until you hear Kelly Clarkson, she hasn’t been this good since she’s been gone. And an interesting fillip is Max called Howie from the Backstreet Boys, and they pulled in their new duet partners, Florida Georgia Line. The Dixie Chick era is over, everybody’s pissed about what’s happening in D.C. Everybody wants clean air and privacy. So Nashville is on board. Will radio play the record? Maybe not at first, but this could be the first reverse crossover, going from pop to country, we’ll see.

And Bob Pittman and John Sykes are leading the charge, they’ve committed each and every iHeart station to banging the record from the get-go. They’ve got a one week exclusive. Jimmy Iovine bid for one for Apple, but then Troy Carter said Spotify would boycott the track so there is no streaming exclusive. As for radio first, that’s part of the agenda, everybody in the business is still inured to the old game so they decided to begin there, for however big Drake’s “More Life” playlist is, it does not dominate radio, not yet, and this track is all about domination, the goal is to wake up the Trump voters and make them realize their mistake.

That’s right, Max and Bob are taking a stand. Max is worried about his green card, but doing what’s right is more important, what a change from the pussies of the past two decades, who put money first. And speaking of pussies, Taylor Swift begged off. There is no truth to the rumor that she was too busy with photographers, plotting a social media splurge for her birthday, but it is disappointing she wouldn’t take a stand. Then again, Katy Perry is now wide awake, and she said if Taylor was involved, she was out.

The track debuts Monday night, during the March Madness finale.

Yes, there is a sponsor. Did you think the musicians were gonna cough up the dough for the commercial?

But it’s Starbucks, a longtime music-centric company that has invested in causes previously.

So the name of the song is…

“What Do You Mean The Answer Is Blowin’ In The Wind?”

I know, I know, it’s unwieldy.

Actually, the true title is “Blow It Out Your Ass,” but despite the President’s crotch-grabbing they didn’t think they could get away with it, kind of like how the Stones retitled that track “Star Star” instead of “Starf…..”

And the words excoriate Agent Orange, go after him physically, just like he has with women.

Sean Spicer, Nunes, they’re all in there. No punches are pulled, because unlike the Democratic Party, Max and Bob know there are new rules and nothing is politically incorrect. The public can handle the truth.

Now two weeks hence a hip-hop version will emerge. And no, it won’t be on Jay Z’s Tidal, it’s gonna be done by Migos on YouTube, that’s what Lyor’s been cooking up in his days at the Googleplex. The goal is to have the biggest video of all time, even eclipsing PSY’s “Gangnam Style.”

And a month after that…

It’s gonna be an add-on on “Hamilton.” After every performance, on the soundtrack, BIOYA is going Broadway, so even those not teenagers, who don’t listen to the radio, will be exposed.

There is no album. Come on, only old farts care about long players.

And there are no old farts involved other than Bob, who is young at heart. Believe me, they all called, worked the phones since they don’t know how to use Slack, but they were rebuffed. Forget inclusiveness, it didn’t work for Hillary and the Dems and it won’t work now.

So get ready, unlike the new Lorde track, it’s a one listen smash. With a tune you’ll be humming and words you’ll be singing for years. Even Guitar Center is in on the mania, they’re gonna give away a home studio to the amateur who does the best cover.

But I don’t want to reveal every marketing quirk.

But one thing’s for sure, the Koch Brothers are not involved, Robert Mercer either, for the first time in a long time musicians are saying no, leaving money on the table, doing what’s right as opposed to what’s expedient.

And as a result the public will resonate and harmony will reign. Music will become the most powerful art form once again and Kanye will be President.

Er, no.

Yeezy is not involved, his ego was just too large.

Funny who was left out, Rick Rubin too.

But the word is they’re all behind Mark Cuban. He’s the next President. He’s warmer and fuzzier than Trump and everybody knows his name from TV and Dylan loves the Mavericks, go figure.

Where is the outrage?

Tim Westergren rallies listeners to save Pandora from extinction.

Silicon Valley rallies the troops to save net neutrality.

But when it comes to coughing up your browser history to you ISP?

Crickets.

Pop stars and sports team agitate against heinous North Carolina legislation that oppresses minorities and the state blinks.

The Republicans decide to allow your ISP to sell your browser history so they can make money, costing you money in the process, since your wants and desires can be manipulated, and no one raises a finger.

Is it that we’re all so fatigued? With new revelations about Trump and his posse every single day?

Or is it we’re so overwhelmed by the loss of the election that we can’t be counted on to stand up?

But we stood up against flight rules that were discriminatory. We stood up against health care policies that would have eliminated coverage for many, but when it comes to protecting each and every one of us, as individuals, we blink?

What is the nation we’re now living in? One wherein we pledge fealty to the government and sacrifice our individuality, lose our lives in the cause of “progress”? Foul our air and scar our bodies so corporations can make more money increasing the GDP? Come on, all this relaxation of energy rules. Do you personally need a pipeline? Furthermore, coal has been eclipsed by natural gas and solar, the latter of which has been pushed by the government, proving that the institution can do some good, but I don’t want to get down into the weeds too much because I think this is something we can all agree on, is there any person who wants LESS PRIVACY?

I need you to read this opinion piece by Tom Wheeler, the former head of the FCC:

How the Republicans Sold Your Privacy to Internet Providers

You will be very scared.

Not only is this rollback gonna be signed by Trump after sailing through Congress, the bill prohibits the FCC from acting on behalf of the public in privacy matters in the future. There, you just lost a layer of protection.

And Wheeler makes the point that phone calls are protected, but now when you search for a new car, that info can be sold to dealers who can act upon it.

And I don’t want you to be criticizing the NYT. I don’t want you to be e-mailing me about George Soros. Those are false equivalencies trumped up by a right wing media that has resulted in this nincompoop becoming President. Sure, Soros donates to left wing causes, but if you believe he uses his money to threaten Democratic leaders and spearhead his own agenda contrary to the will of the majority just like the Koch brothers and Robert Mercer, you’re just plain wrong. And no one has as many boots on the ground as the NYT. The WSJ has shrunk the newshole to such a degree there’s nearly nothing left. It’s like reading a pamphlet. And what is there focuses on general news as opposed to the business news I subscribed for.

And the “Times” itself had an editorial yesterday decrying the loss of privacy, read this one too:

Republicans Attack Internet Privacy

Have we learned nothing from Edward Snowden? How many whistleblowers have to be sacrificed before we get the message… Those in power are in the pockets of corporations and are not looking out for you and me, no way, meanwhile they eradicated whistleblower legislation, because that’s the problem, the takers out for themselves impeding progress. You probably believe liability judgments and class actions are raising your insurance premiums. Not really, not by much. Even the WSJ admits this. The end result? You can’t sue a company anymore, you’ve got to go to arbitration, where the odds of winning are infinitesimal.

So now they know where you are and they know what you’re doing and you’ve got no recourse. Sound like a bad novel, maybe “1984”? It does to me.

And what I know is if this somnambulant public woke up and protested congresspeople would freak out and roll these changes back. We’ve seen it time and time again. When it comes to technology D.C. is clueless. And when the tsunami of people who live online, which is almost everybody, complains, elected officials back down.

But the Silicon Valley companies are quiet because they don’t want to piss off the ISPs.

And the left wing is overwhelmed and the right wing wants us to jet back to the 1950s but the truth is we’re living in the twenty first century.

So do you want a camera in your bedroom? Do you want everybody to know what you’re doing? Almost thinking, because that’s what browser history is all about?

Then welcome to 2017, where your elected officials just coughed up those rights, figuring you just didn’t care and weren’t paying attention.

God, I wish we had some leaders, people who had the attention of the masses, who were trusted, who had credibility, who could wake people up and make them take action.

But although Edward Snowden could stand up on principle, you can’t get an artist to do the same, no way, they’re afraid of the hit to their career.

And the corporation outlives its executives and it must be protected at all costs.

And do we expect Zuckerberg and the social nitwits to stand up here when they’re doing the same damn thing, slicing and dicing our information, eradicating our piracy?

If it makes money, it’s cool.

But I don’t believe that. I believe the air that we breathe, the conversations we have, the searching we do, should be protected, inviolate.

I’ve coughed up enough of my privacy already.

Thursday Playlist – Spotify

“Eagles Fly”
Sammy Hagar

I discovered this during the Napster era. It was never a hit, but it could be one of Sammy’s best productions ever, featuring an uncredited lead by Eddie Van Halen as well as credited bass work by that famous axe-swinger. And isn’t it funny, neither Sam nor Dave could reach the same commercial heights without the elusive Eddie. Sure, Dave had some initial solo success right after “1984,” but that dissipated quite quickly, seems the public knows where the magic lies.

“Eagles Fly” is an anthem. It’s a revelation in an era where we have none. Where beats dominate and melody is anathema. And one thing’s for sure, Sam can sing. I’m including this cut because I heard a live take on No Shoes Radio wherein Sammy claims to be 65, not denying his age, and he wails and loses not a step.

Used to be our airwaves were laden with anthems. Remember “Paradise City”? That’s what’s getting everybody out to see GNR at the stadium. But rock is in the rearview mirror and too many purveyors can neither sing as well as Sammy nor play as well as Eddie.

This is a one listen get, assuming you like this kind of music. Check it out.

“Spring Is Here”
Wendy Waldman

It most certainly is, in Southern California, I know the technical date was ten days ago but when I walked out the front door today and it was warm and sunny and I contemplated when I’d start wearing shorts I knew spring had finally sprung.

Funny how you live long enough and your favorites fade in the rearview mirror. Wendy Waldman is going to college to study composition, expanding her boundaries, and I applaud that, especially when so many aged boomers are relaxing and retiring. But what is weird is this excellent cut, which goes through my brain every year at this time and more is gonna be lost to the sands of time. It’s the instrumentation and feel, the hope.

Hope, it’s a funny thing. I feel best when I have it.

“Monday, Monday”
The Mamas & the Papas

I heard Papa John Phillips on Howard Stern today. Which is quite weird, since he’s been dead for quite a while. I never knew he slept with Jane Fonda but it turned out Papa John had a book and had written about it and this whole segment was sex-oriented, funny how Howard’s changed, but I was continuing to listen because the hype was that Steven Tyler, who was in the studio with Joe Perry too, eventually suggests to Papa John they write a song together and the folkie begs off. I never got to that point, but as they were playing a game I couldn’t stop thinking back to when, when the Mamas & the Papas were gigantic.

“California Dreamin'” was the initial hit. A west coast counterpart to the east coast “Sound Of Silence,” which shared the airwaves at the same time.

And then came “Monday, Monday,” cementing the act’s place in the firmament. This was long before we heard “Creeque Alley” and realized how many dues they’d all paid, except for Michelle, who is still alive and kicking, who suddenly had every girl in my high school imitating her look.

Now at this point, my favorite Mamas & Papas cut is “Twelve Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming To The Canyon),” even though it didn’t make the top ten, I heard it, I knew it, but didn’t come to love it until I bought a greatest hits album in the eighties and listened to it over and over again. And to be true, I’ve got to add “Words Of Love” in here too, which had a rollicking summer circus feel in contrast to the winter weather when it was a hit, remember when an act’s next hit didn’t sound exactly like the one had come before? And while I’m running through the catalog, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention “I Saw Her Again” too. It’s the exuberance, the intro like an Association song, that hooks you. You walked down the street and sang this in your head and just felt happy, back before society became coarse and the street ruled. Come on, you’ve got no idea what it was like to have a crush in the sixties and be able to sing this song in your head.

And “California Dreamin'” may be forever, some of the other songs may be remembered, but the genius of Papa John…is being lost to the sands of time.

“The Way It Is”
Bruce Hornsby & the Range

This riff goes through my head on a regular basis, and I’m not sure why, but just this morning, standing at the sink, getting ready to put in my contacts, that descending piano lick…

This was a gigantic hit on KNX-FM, L.A.’s soft rock station, back in the summer of ’86, I’d let the radio play and write articles on my Mac Plus in preparation for the first issue of “The Lefsetz Letter.”

“A Long Time, A Long Way To Go”
Todd Rundgren

From “The Ballad of…”, before he remade “Hello It’s Me” and came out from behind the console to be a star. “The Ballad of…” is his best album, most people do their best work in obscurity, when no one is looking, no one is paying attention. Then again, if you had a record deal at all back then you got some attention, but this was released on Ampex/Bearsville, which meant it was almost like it never came out at all, this was before Albert Grossman moved his label to Warner Brothers, I bought “The Ballad of…” as a cut-out, back when music was scarce and you followed your favorites, especially if they got no significant traction, I was a huge Nazz fan.

Every track on “The Ballad of…” is a winner, and none of them are the same, they evidence exquisite craftsmanship in the writing and the production, and if there were any justice at all, and there isn’t, Todd would have been inducted into the R&RHOF long ago, proving that honors and awards are worthless.

“Love Is The Answer”
Utopia

But it’s really a Todd Rundgren song, absent the jazz fusion/rock sound of the band. Actually, “Love Is The Answer” is on “Oops! Wrong Planet,” which is the most Rundgrenesque of Utopia’s records, i.e. more straight ahead rock. But the winner is this, the closing track, which was a hit in a schmaltzy version by England Dan & John Ford Coley, but this is the one you’ve got to know…

And when you feel afraid, love one another

It’s no sign of weakness to say you’re scared, to ask for help.

When you’ve lost your way, love one another

The older you get the more you realize, you’ve got no idea where you’re going, you’re in a backwater, you need help, there’s no harm in asking for directions.

When you’re all alone, love one another

The scourge of humanity, loneliness. If only someone were there, we wouldn’t be lost in the detritus of our own thoughts.

When you’re far from home, love one another

It’s a conundrum. The best things happen when you’re on the road, but the pitfalls counterbalance the peaks and oftentimes you’re at loose ends.

When you’re down and out, love one another

People are afraid to look like losers. When they need help most they won’t ask for it.

All your hope’s run out, love one another

Did you see that scary Princeton study on the death rate of middle-aged whites? They’re killing themselves in droves, they’ve lost all hope, there’s no economic opportunity, it’s scary.

When you need a friend, love one another

You can’t make it alone, you need friends. Someone to listen to you, someone to call when you’re down and out.

When you’re near the end, love…

It’s coming, you just may not know it yet. You’re gonna die, sooner rather than later. And the closer you come to the conclusion the more stuff that you thought mattered doesn’t. Assets especially. It’s the intangible that counts. Your friends, your connections, your conversations.

We got to love one another

We most certainly do.

But in today’s game we’re fearful that if we’re not on guard, we’re gonna end up with the short end of the stick. Everybody’s huddled, protecting what they’ve got, focusing on points of division as opposed to connection. And to tell you the truth, I was a bit O.D.’ed on all the love talk way back when from not only Todd, but John Lennon. But having achieved their goals, they knew there had to be something more.

We’ve got to love one another.

We’ve got to love the planet.

We’ve got to think long term as opposed to short, know we’re just custodians of the Earth and we must protect it for future generations.

And I contemplate all this when I listen to such majestic music as “Love Is The Answer,” from back when you could be wimpy and hard-edged and still be the same person.