Don’t cancel on me. Unless your mother died or you got in a car accident, show up, live up to your commitments, otherwise I know I’m just not that important to you, and that’s fine, but why did you reach out to me in the first place?

Happens all the time. Always with someone higher up the food chain. Who believes their value is greater than mine. All cool, but you came looking for me, I’d never cancel on you. As a matter of fact, I had a car accident back in February and still made it for a TV taping. Because I live up to my commitments. Does anybody live up to their commitments anymore? In a nation where it’s a badge of honor to drop out of college? The value comes in staying the course. And if you think money is everything, you don’t have any.

These are the lessons you learn from your parents. But that was back when your mom wouldn’t write you a note so you could stay home and watch your favorite TV program, never mind go on a family trip. School was a sentence, kind of like jail, where you went for years to pay penance for being born in this great country of ours, back before we started arguing about whether evolution could be in textbooks and they removed the arts from the curriculum, when if the teacher sent home a note you shook as you handed it to your parents, today said mothers and fathers believe their child is flawless and march straight to the administration to complain, everybody in America is complaining, as they climb the greased pole, afraid to give up anything they’ve got. Hell, if we lived in their world we’d all still be using dial telephones rented from AT&T. Sacrifice is anathema in the United States, and so is living up to your obligations, coming through, being honest, doing what’s right.

But if the President lies about a blow job and VW cheats on emissions tests and the billionaires sell your data with impunity why should you play by the rules? We live in a cheating economy. And if you’re an honest, hardworking bloke, the joke’s on you.

I don’t say yes to everything. But when I do agree to meet, I’m there, on time. That’s how you know the person getting together with you doesn’t respect you, when they’re late. Even in L.A., where traffic is horrific, you can arrive on time, maybe early, just to show the other person that you mean business.

And so many of the titans running today’s corporations do this. You’d be astounded how many household names show up on time. But the entrepreneurial class, those who we revere so much, play by their own rules, they believe they’re gods. This is the same viewpoint that has them agitating for lower taxes because they’re the job creators. They buy the politicians and then start a disinformation campaign to convince the uneducated, who can’t parse the truth, who didn’t go to school, or didn’t go to a good one, that they’re right. Telling the unwashed how they made it on hard work and you can too, leaving out that their parents were rich and they went to the best schools and know all the right people. Yup, who you know is critical, which is why people set up these meetings to begin with, they’re afraid they’re going to miss out. I’m here to tell you you’re missing out every single day, you can’t know or do everything, but you can be nice to people.

Then there are those who are nice to your face but screw you behind your back. Because everybody’s afraid to be honest anyway, for fear someone won’t like them. I’ve got a whole bunch of people I don’t like, I don’t care if they know it. And then there are some who are hated in the press but are completely reasonable up close and personal, they’ve been denigrated because someone has an agenda.

Everybody’s got an agenda.

All but the rich and powerful, the famous, are expendable. They can lose their right to organize, as we lionize a long gone President who fired air controllers. If you can’t organize and stand up for your rights, you’re feeding at the trough on Maggie’s Farm. But you’re afraid, you don’t want to lose what little you have, while the man keeps taking more and more and telling you it’s for your own good.

And dishonesty rules. Hillary Clinton says she’s for the death penalty because she’s running for President and she’s afraid to piss some voters off. Even though trends say it’s gonna go bye-bye and when the wave gets stronger she’ll flip-flop, the same way she did on gay marriage.

And only in America can we have an entire news outlet billing itself as “Fair and Balanced” when it’s anything but.

I was brought up in a different era. When rich meant a million and status was a Cadillac. Where the corporation felt workers were family and you had a job for life. Where who you were was more important than how much money you had, or what job you did.

And if you don’t think it’s going to get worse, you don’t think it’s going to get better.

The left says manufacturing has to come back, not telling you that a flat screen will now cost two grand. A nonstarter if there ever was one.

The right says government is bad, as if government doesn’t fix the roads and enforce safe building regulations. Whenever there’s an earthquake buildings topple in the rest of the world, because they weren’t up to code. Rarely happens in the U.S. That’s what government will buy you.

But you don’t want this because you want to keep your tax money, because you think you know better, because you think you can win at the roulette wheel of life. You’re not so smart, no one’s that smart. We thrive on the wisdom of the crowd, we’re all in it together, and I’m willing to do my part…BUT DON’T CANCEL ON ME!

Were the eighties special, or did they just feel that way because I was there?

I went to the Greek last Thursday because it was the last Nederlander night. From now on, it’s an open building. Will the city make more money or less? Well, there are a lot of shows that will no longer play the building, because the promoter can no longer make money on them. I guess it’ll all play out. Either the city will do well or the building will go back up for bids.

And once upon a time the summer season was from late May until early September. I remember when the Universal Amphitheatre stretched into the first week of October in the late seventies, it was a special event. But now not only is the Universal Amphitheatre gone, especially in its topless incarnation, it hasn’t been cold in L.A. for seemingly ever. Well, until today. I know you’ve been dealing with freezing temps and precipitation, but it’s been in the eighties here for weeks, even in Santa Monica, where normally it doesn’t even get that warm at the apex of summer.

Which is to say it was not a brisk evening. No jacket required.

Did you see that Phil Collins is gonna make a comeback? Is anybody salivating? And I’m a fan! But as acts age it’s tough to get their audience out, never mind get the word out.

But everybody knew about the Walk The Moon show, at least those who cared. And they came out in prodigious numbers, they filled the place, they painted their faces, they sang along and I wondered…did I miss the memo?

Or could this just be the modern world, wherein everybody’s narrowcasting and it’s nearly impossible to break out of your lane, you might be hyped by the mainstream media, but still very few care.

So, to be honest, I b.s.’ed in Rena’s office through the opening acts, two, like in the days of yore, at the Fillmore. Actually, Rena took her troops to the Bill Graham exhibit, to show them her roots, what once was. And my roots include the heyday of MTV, all those English acts that burned up the airwaves before Michael Jackson came along and changed the channel into a pop outlet. You know, Haircut 100… All those acts with synths and high voices and melodies, like Walk The Moon.

I’d like to tell you they were bad, but they were not. The band was completely competent. No, they were better than that, they were talented. The lead guitarist could shred. And the drummer could pound. And the lead singer could not only do that, but noodle on the keyboards too. It’s just that I thought I’d heard this sound before.

But to the girls in attendance, it was brand new. And they were girls. The ratio was at least 70/30, and the boys in attendance all had girls by their side. And there were no parents like at a 1D show, this crew was old enough to drive, and unlike their ‘rents, they thought nothing of going out on a Thursday evening, just a few days before Halloween.

I was fascinated, how could something that meant so much to so many…mean so little to everybody else?

I wandered down into the pit. Everybody was dancing. The lead singer had the assembled multitude lift their arms in the air. And blathered on about how the band relied on the audience, they made it together, all the cliches you’ve heard for decades, but to these people…it was all BRAND NEW!

Which, once again, begs the question, was our music not that special, is it all just cyclical?

But unlike the bands of the MTV era, no one in Walk The Moon was a babe. They were sartorially challenged. It was about the music. Well, along with the energy. On one level you had to give them credit, on the other it got kind of repetitious.

Turns out they’re from Ohio. And they’ve been at it for the better part of a decade. And the lead singer went to Kenyon. Same as it used to be, when you lived in the hinterlands and practiced until you got your chance. And Max Martin is not involved, but there are some secret weapons, but the band has an undeniable hit in “Shut Up And Dance.”

She took my arm
I don’t know how it happened
We took the floor and she said…

This is every boy’s dream, we’re pressured to be macho, to lead, but what we’re looking for is a signal, a green light,…

Oh don’t you dare look back
Just keep your eyes on me
I said you’re holding back
She said shut up and dance with me
This woman is my destiny
She said ooo ooo ooo
Shut up and dance with me

And the band is pogoing, and so is the assembled multitude, whose knees are injury-free, they’re running on sheer adrenaline and optimism. Just like…we did in the eighties.

You remember that era, or maybe you don’t. Reagan was President, we didn’t know the middle class was on its way out, we just believed happiness was our destiny. And our soundtrack was…all those bands on MTV.

I’ll argue Culture Club was unique. Maybe Duran Duran too. But were the rest really that different from Walk The Moon?

Not that much.

So when I got home I played the album, “Talking Is Hard,” over and over again. Hell, I didn’t realize it was repeating, that’s how much the songs run together. You know how you listen with one ear until a track jumps out? Well, other than the hit only one other track did. Which is kind of like the eighties too, all those English new wave acts only had one good cut on their albums.

But this other cut, “Aquaman,” it’s a winner.

See the thing you’ve been chasing, honey
You’ll never find it wearing a life vest
You gotta risk your neck
Know in your heart it will be worth it

I believe that, that’s good advice, not quite poetry, but nor were the words of Kajagoogoo. And if you’ve never heard Kajagoogoo…it’s new(s) to you!

So what we’ve learned, first and foremost, is that those who say the music business is dead are completely wrong. Today’s generation is just as passionate as we were. And sure, the music may not on the level of the Beatles or U2, but so much of the rest…was it dreck? Is my life insignificant? Is everything I believe wrong? Is what I thought was special not?

I’m still contemplating all this.

But I also know it’s hard to hate Walk The Moon. Unlike so many of the highly-hyped, they did it their way, the old-fashioned way. It wasn’t about rich moms and dads, it was about banging it out in the basement, running on practice and desire until you come up with something special, we’re only interested in what’s special.

And “Shut Up And Dance” is. Along with “Aquaman.”

Does the audience grow up and out?

Don’t underestimate the bond today’s fan has with the act. When the songs disappear from the radio, they still live online. Along with live YouTube clips and other info on social services. The mainstream media may have moved on, but you don’t have to. And if the band develops, if it writes another hit…

You’re gonna know about it, you’re paying attention.

But what about the rest of us?

What is driving the acceptance of these acts? To say it’s radio is too simplistic. Usually radio is just the icing on the cake, the thing that blows it up bigger. The kids don’t need no stinking radio. But somehow they know.

How do they know?

Walk The Moon – Spotify

As you will remember, the handyman committed suicide. And his memory is sticking with me, but it’s astounding how life moves on, how the big wheels keep on turnin’, if you’re thinking of checking out, don’t, you’re gonna miss so much. Not that any of it’s important. That’s what you learn as life goes on, what you believed to be satisfying is not. The pleasure of career achievement lasts a day or two. Sex without love…talk to those with stories but no satisfaction. You learn to take pleasure in the day to day, the small accomplishments, like changing the refrigerator water filter.

The light came on. I couldn’t handle it. I need everything to run right. Right now I’m troubled by losing my receive mail sound in El Capitan. That’s right, I upgraded and I got silence. Sure, I get the growl in the upper right-hand corner of my computer screen, but I need the sound, I live for my mail. And I went online and everybody was complaining. How could Apple upgrade and lose something I took for granted? I’m waiting to upgrade my MacBook Pro until they fix it.

So, used to be that Peter replaced the water filter.

But do you need an expert to do so?

I could press the button and turn off the light, but that would just mask the underlying problem, the filter was used up. Or was it? Felice doesn’t think it needs changing that often.

But I do.

And that light kept staring and staring at me until I decided to take action.

I couldn’t do it alone, because the model number was so long. I could stick my head in the fridge, but I couldn’t write it down at the same time, this was a two man job. Or man and woman. Or Felice and me.

And when the going gets rough, I get scared. I’m a man of action, eventually, but right away? EEGADS!

But I reached my limit with the light and I called to Felice and I had her write down a number with enough digits and letters to foil any hacker. And then I went on Amazon, and VOILA! The filter popped right up.

Not that I immediately bought it, that would be too easy. Was it really the right filter, was it sold direct from Amazon? You want the latter, in case you’ve got to return it.

But then I clicked to buy.

And it came.

But now I had to install it.

Was I really up to the job? Should Felice call someone else? Days were passing, but now it was the weekend…I had to take action.

But Felice is manual-challenged.

I’m a guy. I’ve got manuals for products that I no longer own! But as soon as a product arrives Felice tosses the packaging, had she tossed the fridge manual too?

Well, she couldn’t find it.

Which meant I had to go to the web. A great savior. But the YouTube videos didn’t show the right model. And they were littered with so many caveats I got scared. Do I really have to unplug the damn thing? And put down a towel for water leaks? I mean can I electrocute myself and flood the house at the same time?

It’s possible…

And finally I got a clip of a similar fridge, but not identical, and they said to turn off the icemaker. But their button was in a different place. I was digging my hole deeper.

And then I called out to Felice for help. I needed to write down the serial number from inside the fridge again. Which seemed inaccurate, because it was the same number for the water filter, but she wrote it down and I plugged it into Google and I got the manual.

Success!

Not really.

You see there’s a handyman code. They don’t want to reveal all their secrets. They don’t want to tell you everything. They want you to rely on them. There was some information in the online manual, but not all.

Turns out removing the filter was easy. Reinstalling the cap too. But looking at the new filter I saw there was an up and a down, in which direction should I install it? What if it slid in and didn’t filter, the manual said you could run the fridge without a filter whatsoever, then all my effort would come to nothing, and I might get Giardia and why do we need a water filter anyway, isn’t what comes from the pipe clean enough?

And the old filter was extremely heavy. The new one light as a feather. Could they really be the same?

And there were installation instructions on the old and none on the new. Which raised my anxiety and had me convinced I was in over my head.

But then I noticed grooves on the tube. Maybe it would go in one way only.

But it turned out it wouldn’t go in any way at all!

And if I push it I break it. And there’s nothing in the manual about insertion direction. And then, counterintuitively I turn the cylinder on its side…and it slides right in.

Well, enough of the sexual metaphors.

I thought my work was done, but the manual said to refer to the section about flushing the system.

Huh? This is way too much! One of the YouTube videos had water pouring and I was in over my head and now the filter is installed but I still have to call a handyman/plumber?

So I read the instructions, which are vague. Like I told you, you’re supposed to know how to do this.

And then I dove right in.

It said to get a large container, but I figured a glass was good enough. But I pushed the lever and the system farted and water started to spray and thank god I could pull away and stop the effusiveness.

This was harder than it looked.

I got a bigger glass. You had to go on and off every five seconds until you got an even flow, thanks Pearl Jam. But this happened within thirty seconds! But now I had to do it for another two minutes. And the glass is filling and I’m worried about using too much water, we’ve got a drought here, you know. And I thought I was through and then it farted again and then…

It worked perfectly.

And this extreme sense of satisfaction coursed throughout my entire body. Like I’d climbed my own personal Everest.

I knew I could do this. I’d been preparing for it my whole life. I’m someone who can read the instructions and follow through. Which is probably why I can’t play video games, since they come with no manual. And, like I said, the refrigerator manual was vague, but I persevered.

And when I went to toss the old filter and considered its weight once again I started to wonder, is this what was in our water?

Ah, the mysteries of modern life.

We can debate the financial viability of “Grantland” all day long.

But we cannot debate the fact that the site was synonymous with Bill Simmons, and without him it’s toast.

Unlike the “Wall Street Journal”‘s digital coverage. Did you see the paper held a tech conference in Laguna with even more heavyweights than Recode? Illustrating that talent is king only if it’s bigger than the enterprise, and Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg are not. Bigger than the WSJ, that is. Which took its sweet time to turn the boat around, but is now dwarfing Recode, which I expect to go extinct.

So, do you invest in people or infrastructure?

ESPN thought it was pulling one over on Simmons by calling the site “Grantland.” Everybody knew it should be “Simmonsland,” but enterprises like to screw talent, they like to show talent who’s boss, only in this case ESPN lost. Who’s running that show again?

When the execs start believing they’re bigger than the talent, you know you’re in trouble. It screwed the music business. Come on, where is Tommy Mottola today? Does anybody under twenty five know who Tommy Mottola is? No one knows who Bob Morgado is, but he made the worst mistake in the history of recorded music, he parted ways with Jimmy Iovine.

That was not Morgado’s only mistake. He kept changing heads at Warner Music, ineffectively, Doug Morris was fired on his watch, but what Morgado is most famous for is buckling under pressure, getting rid of Interscope because of “dangerous” rap lyrics.

Never heed the press. Don’t even heed the shareholders. Smart people know that controversy fades, if you listen to your critics, you’re toast.

So Doug Morris went to Universal and made a deal with Iovine and Interscope and the rest is history, Universal rules music today. Iovine was an exceptional record executive, don’t confuse him with the guy running Apple Music ineffectively. Furthermore, it was Ted Field’s money, but it was Jimmy’s expertise. Where’s Ted Field today?

Where’s Apple today? Did you notice they’re giving a $50 discount on a Watch if you buy an iPhone? Do you ever remember such a deal?

“Apple offers $50 off Apple Watch with any iPhone purchase in select Apple Retail Stores”

And it’s not available everywhere, but if it’s available anywhere, people find out online.

Without Steve Jobs Apple is history. They’ll ride the iPhone as long as they can and then another company will steal their thunder. It’s the way of the world.

The world runs on talent. And executives hate this. Talent is mercurial, doesn’t heed deadlines and other corporate mores. But talent is the fuel of success. Sure, a record label doesn’t need a specific act to hit, but it needs one! Kinda like Al Teller made a profit on Irving Azoff’s MCA acts, but when they started to fade, there was nothing in the pipeline to replace them, MCA went into decline and Teller lost his job. The most important person at a label is he who finds and signs the talent, everybody else is superfluous, remember that.

Just like a great manager without a hit act is worthless.

And a great promoter with a stiff act is on his way out of business.

But not every talented person can run his own show.

Nate Silver has been right about the election months ahead of everybody else. He said Biden had no chance because it was too late months before Biden said the same thing. But the rest of the press kept on singing the VP’s praises, kept debating his entrance, wasting our time.

Just like Nate Silver told us Trump’s unfavorables were so high he could never win the nomination. But the press loves debating Trump’s chances months later.

Nate Silver is talent. The “New York Times” let him go. If he was still at the Grey Lady he’d be the most important person in political reporting, at his own site he’s a sideshow, although Paul Krugman did give him props last week:

Hillary’s Loops

Proving that it’s a dance. You can go your own way, but you might not be as successful. Meanwhile, the establishment you worked at just doesn’t get it, and you’re frustrated.

So we lionize the innovators.

But pay fealty to the MBAs who run the ship. They’re the ones making the most money, those who run America’s big corporations. Come on, how great was Jack Welch anyway? You can argue he cooked the books at GE, how else could the numbers keep getting better? And now Jeffrey Immelt has to dismantle what Welch built.

And then there’s Elizabeth Holmes at Theranos. Lauded everywhere, there’s no there there.

But we love the cult of personality. But too often it’s not deserved.

But sometimes it is.

Like at HBO and Netflix, which are burgeoning because they say yes to talent when everybody else says no. There are no notes, they’re investing in genius. Such that we revere the end result.

So, if you’re talent, know that…

Platform is everything. I.e. without reach you’re history. We live in a cacophonous world where it’s nearly impossible to gain people’s attention, never mind keep it. If you’re starting all over today, good luck. Hell, Trent Reznor left Interscope saying he could do it alone and then he returned to the major label system. Forget Arianna Huffington, forget all the victors of the past. We live in a new era. Never give up your audience, it’s all you have.

If you’re the executive, know that…

Talent is never going to be manageable. If you want the trains to run on time, go work for the railroad. Talent is as insecure as it is boastful. You embrace talent, you give it wings. This is how Jimmy Iovine succeeded at Interscope, it’s how Mo Ostin and Joe Smith succeeded at Warner, you want to be a magnet for talent, not an adversary. Only cut bait if you’re losing money and you see no way to make it back in the future. As for difficult personalities, it goes with the territory. And when it comes to art, talent is sui generis. There’s only one Paul McCartney and one Max Martin. You can hire someone controllable, you just won’t get the results.

So don’t believe new institutions are going to topple the old. Starting up is too hard. The landscape is too cluttered. But that does not mean every institution has to maintain. We don’t need every newspaper, just a few.

Bill Simmons had it right. He got fired from ESPN and hitched his wagon to HBO, he did not start over on his own, that’s an old paradigm.

As for the aforementioned Arianna Huffington, she’s a blowhard in the rearview mirror, because her only talent was generating attention. And if you think that has legs, you probably believe the YouTube stars are gonna last for decades.

There’s very little talent out there. And the more you try to tell it what to do and how to act the more you’re going to alienate it. The job of the exec is to get talent to produce, and you don’t do this by threatening with spreadsheets, you do this by coddling people.

No one at “Grantland” could make it run without Bill Simmons… NO ONE!

And Apple can’t seem to come up with a new hit product without Steve Jobs.

And there’s only one Adele.

Distribution is king. If you can’t see or hear it, it doesn’t exist.

But distribution without talent is a complete failure.

Talent first, never forget it.