“7 Years” Lukas Graham – Spotify
“7 Years” Lukas Graham – YouTube

There hasn’t been a single reference to this act in the “Los Angeles Times” other than minor listings of television and concert appearances.

The only reference in the “New York Times” is an August 8th story wherein Margarethe Vestager, the Dane who is EU’s competition commissioner, says Lukas is providing the soundtrack of her summer.

But Mr. Graham has the biggest song of the week, according to the sales chart, “7 Years” has been on the Digital Songs listing for 9 weeks and sold 121,423 downloads for a cume of 533,104.

But unless you’re under the age of 25, or in the business, you’ve probably never heard it, never mind heard of it.

But we all know sales are nearly meaningless, is anybody listening to “7 Years”?

Yes, it’s number 4 on the United States Top 50 chart on Spotify. It’s getting 729,035 plays A DAY!

And as of this writing, the official video has been viewed on YouTube 36,119,091 times.

And it’s number 16 on the Mediabase Top 40 chart.

Lukas Graham seems to be everywhere but the news.

But he’s truly happening, the track is monstrous in the rest of the world. But we’ve become inured to that, the lane is much wider overseas, people take their music more seriously, it’s not only about money. So it’s always these outside hits that break through in the U.S., because the truth is we’re looking for something new and different.

And “7 Years” does not sound like the typical L.A. production with drum machine cliches.

But it is catchy. And the words are not meaningless. Lukas Graham is beating the oldsters at their own game. He knows it’s the track, not the hype. And that to get people’s attention you’ve got to speak your truth in a way that we can be hooked immediately to the point we want to hear your track again and again.

Lukas Graham has a hit.

Eventually there will be an album. But there’s not one now.

You see MTV started back in 1981, it ushered in the modern pop era. Today’s active listeners/watchers/buyers have no clue as to the golden age of classic rock, with extended numbers played endlessly on FM. They want immediacy. They want to belong, to a community that has commonality. That’s why popularity appeals to them.

And pop is a monolith that’s going to dominate everything else, it already is. This is what the internet has wrought, in an era of chaos everybody gravitates to the same stuff. You might be listening to obscurities, and that’s your privilege, but the reason those acts are not getting rich is few people are. It’s different from the way it used to be, where it was tough to get a record deal and those that did had prominence. Now if you’re not on Top 40 it’s like you don’t exist, and it’s only going to get worse. Until someone completely different comes along and blows the paradigm away. Only that might not happen, because everybody making music knows how hard it is to get attention and doesn’t want to walk into the wilderness unnecessarily.

Listen to “7 Years,” you’ll be surprised. You won’t be able to instantly dismiss it, you’ll question all your precepts. It’s not country and it’s not heavy metal, and it’s certainly not hip-hop. But if you can throw off your prejudices you can admit that it’s very good.

Once I was seven years old my mama told me
Go make yourself some friends or you’ll be lonely

Truth. Friends are everything. The younger generation knows this, which is why they’re more about access than ownership, why they don’t need to flash the keys of a Benz for acceptance, they’d rather point to likes and thumbs-ups and the number of followers they’ve got. For all the put-downs of millennials it may be they’re more aware than their elders, they know life is for the living, especially if upward mobility is eviscerated.

It was a big, big world, but we thought we were bigger
Pushing each other to the limits, we were learning quicker

The younger generation is optimistic, it may owe money for its college education, but it believes it can harness the modern tools to change the world. The oldsters supporting Trump are worried about their present being stolen by immigrants, a nameless enemy, but their children, maybe their grandchildren, see the world as a global village where you embrace others, like this 27 year old from Denmark. And isn’t it funny that he’s that age, whereas in America at 27 you’ve already made it or are done, trying something else. This endless focus on youth is worst on this side of the pond.

Once I was eleven years old my daddy told me
Get yourself a wife or you’ll be lonely

All this hogwash about doing it alone, not needing a partner, it’s embraced by boomers who thought divorce would solve all their problems, who believed they could have it all. You can’t. Best to commit, adjust and move forward.

Something about that glory just always seemed to bore me
‘Cause only those I really love will ever really know me

Fame won’t keep you warm at night. And if you’ve met famous people you know they’re usually nothing like their image. We all desire to be known. And only a small circle of people ever will, know you, that is. The pursuit of money and fame are empty in a vacuum, you’ve got to like the work. Which is why we never look to the financial nitwits to lead, they sold out for safety, we want people who truly tested limits, who lived, who have lessons to impart.

I’m still learning about life

Funny how American youth is sure it knows everything, but this guy from overseas knows life is peppered with more questions than answers.

And some I had to leave behind
My brother, I’m still sorry

That’s the truth, not everybody can come with you on your journey, you’re going to have to abandon those too scared, too complacent, not supportive of your goal. It’s an endless conundrum, commitment to those who understand you and have helped you in the past whilst searching for those who understand and can help you now that you’ve changed and know so much more and have new desires.

Remember life and then your life becomes a better one

We’re only here a short time. We think we count, but we don’t. In America we’ve got no respect for our elders, if you’re old you’re irrelevant, but it’s the oldsters who have the wisdom, we’re all just part of an endless continuum, those who look back as opposed to forward, for lessons already learned, win in the end.

It’s a pop world, we only live in it.

But pop has been getting broader, it’s a big tent open to anything catchy and meaningful.

Along with a ton of dreck.

But it’s what the youth are listening to.

1. Know who we are.

From day one, you should be collecting e-mail addresses and building up a social media following. This is the first line of aggression, the first way to make people aware of what you’re doing. To ignore this precept is like making phone calls without a directory. You can’t talk to anybody if you don’t know how to reach them.

2. Major media only works for major stars.

If you’re Bieber or Beyonce, or Kanye, the major media is interested in what you have to say, in your new release. But big outlets don’t care about the rest, or if they print a review, most people interested won’t see it, because they’re used to major outlets featuring mainstream stuff they don’t care about. If you think you’re winning by getting a review in print you’re living via old precepts.

3. You need a work track.

Radio may not play your record, but the game remains the same. You need a track that people react to, instantly, something that hooks them right away. You must decide what the track is and you must promote it. The album is for hard core fans at best, if you don’t have a track that permeates you’re preaching to the converted, and when you do this your audience shrinks, because some of your hard core fans no longer are, they die, they lose interest, they don’t get the memo. You  must always be gaining new fans or your career is cratering. Once you begin to coast the death spiral begins.

4. Albums are for labels.

It’s a money grab. You can put it out, you can even get it on the chart, but that doesn’t mean anybody is going to care even a week out. If you’re spending a year or two polishing ten tracks you’re missing the point. The game has changed. You must be making music constantly. Uploading covers and work tracks to YouTube. Releasing a single when it’s ready. You’re a musician, not a businessman. There’s a tsunami of information and if you want to get noticed you must rain constantly, even if it’s just a mist. If you’re creating a storm every once in a while, you’ll be forgotten, if you’re even noticed.

5. Collaboration is king.

It’s about bringing multiple fan bases together. Do you think fans just want to see multiple headliners at the gig? People find it interesting when acts work together. Worked for Diplo, Skrillex and Bieber.

6. Playlists engender discovery.

Pandora is dead, if it even mattered in your territory. Now it’s about getting on the playlist. And there’s a hierarchy of playlists to boot. Spotify is king here, and its Discover Weekly is paramount. You can’t game Discover Weekly, but it recommends based on what others have listened to that you’ve listened to too. Never forget that you’re part of a continuum of music, fans don’t like only you. We’re evolving more and more to a playlist world. Dynamic playlists, those that change. This is where discovery happens. No one remembers who’s in the “Billboard” top ten published in the newspaper (other than maybe number one), but if you’re in the streaming service top ten, people are gonna hear you. And chances are you need staying power to be heard there. Staying power is everything today.

This was not supposed to happen. Apple was supposed to rule the future.

That’s right, while pundits were debating the merits and demerits of the Apple Watch, Jony Ive’s grasp at immortality, with many fashionable elements but little utility, Jeff Bezos pivoted from his Fire phone debacle and slowly took over the world, foisting upon it a product no one knew they wanted but everyone who owns one can’t stop testifying about.

The Fire phone was so last decade. Wherein you overhype something to ubiquity. Steve Jobs perfected that paradigm, to the point we were more interested in watching Apple presentations than going to the movies.

But then Steve Jobs died.

Tech is not the land of corporations, it’s the domain of individuals. Otherwise Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman would have been able to pump up HP. But they couldn’t, they’re both managers. And we’re only interested in innovators.

For a while there Google caught our eye. Not only did its search engine do the impossible, deliver exactly what we were looking for, to the point no one even looks at the second link anymore, the company delivered Gmail and free analytics and…

Then came Google Glass. A product no one wanted paraded by the nerds running this company who were out of touch.

That’s the problem with Facebook too, Zuckerberg’s a nerd. He doesn’t understand human relationships, doesn’t realize we enjoy a modicum of privacy, doesn’t know how to get along with media powers, wanting to eat their lunch via bullying.

You can argue Jeff Bezos is the same person.

But Bezos has always been ahead of his prey. And despite being a nerd, Bezos is immersed in the world of retail, he knows where the rubber meets the road, he realizes it’s all about satiating customers with stuff they want.

Even corporate customers. You may not be aware of AWS, Amazon Web Services, but it’s the engine of profit for the company. A new enterprise priced low at the advent, AWS hosts your favorite websites, demonstrating in the modern economy it often doesn’t pay to own, but to rent, with the flexibility to grow larger or shrink smaller on a whim. While we’re still fighting over access in the music industry, with the artist arguing for ownership, techies realize access is everything, that people don’t want to buy, which is why record stores closed and Spotify’s got a huge valuation.

And then came Amazon Video. A seemingly unnecessary me-too service in a land of frontrunners known as Netflix and Hulu, Amazon ended up cooking up “Transparent” and “Mozart In The Jungle” and suddenly its Prime members were watching.

Prime… You might consider it a fee for fast delivery, but although profitable Amazon considers it a club. Everybody wants to be a member of an organization, especially one with free perks. That’s the M.O. of the future. Get people hooked and keep ladling on features, letting early adopters in for less, incentivizing members to stay attached.

Kind of like the Echo.

We didn’t know we wanted voice control in the house. We kept hearing about the internet of things, but we weren’t sure what it was about. Furthermore, Siri is so frustrating that many don’t even bother to employ it on their phone.

Apple was there first in voice control, but it squandered its lead, it didn’t see the opportunities, and now it’s floundering.

But Amazon did.

It released the Echo with little fanfare and over the course of its short lifetime, a little over a year, it’s become the go-to product of the day. Mobile phones have become commoditized. Apple does realize loyalty is about features/software/club membership, if you use a Samsung you’re out of the loop, but if you’re a loner so many mobile devices are good enough today.

But there’s only one Echo.

Sonos was caught flat-footed. It’s laying off workers. It knows the future is voice control.

And competitors are clamoring for market share, Echo will not be alone for long.

But it does have first-mover advantage. And it’s the ecosystem that counts. Third parties are lining up to create Echo-compatible apps, to run your thermostat, your lights, your…

So you’ve got to give Jeff Bezos credit. He’s learned from his mistakes and is still a visionary pushing the envelope.

Apple is dead. It will survive for a while on its devices, but they too will ultimately be superseded, as were Palm and BlackBerry before them.

Because there’s no there there.

Music broke through because of the moguls, people who invented it along the way. Ahmet Ertegun started Atlantic with money from his dentist and then pivoted from R&B to rock. Bill Graham created the Fillmores and then closed them when they were no longer economically viable. Those growing up working for the man just don’t have the same fire or insight, they haven’t fought for their lives, they’re used to getting a paycheck, they’re more interested in ripping off the corporation than expanding it.

But Jeff Bezos is like the Beatles. Staying in the game, always giving us the unexpected.

Not Kanye. Kanye has perfected publicity. In an era where hype means ever less. We’re looking for substance, we’re looking for you to be one step ahead of the game. That’s how we know Spotify’s a winner…everybody suing and complaining about it eating their lunch. But Spotify’s customers are satisfied, by this enterprise created by an outsider.

Art used to have a hold on this kind of innovation. Before corporations ruled. And the creators are as bad as the despots, they put money first and character second. Whereas the best of the techies know that remuneration comes last.

So wake up and smell the coffee. It’s morning in America. One wherein devices our are servants, they will thrill us and make our lives easier.

But they depend upon our input.

What are you gonna tell your Echo to do?

P.S. Ignore the hype about Amazon opening bookstores. Few titles are involved, it’s all about getting people to experience their devices and services. Think “To Serve Man,” not Barnes & Noble. Amazon isn’t interested in selling you a physical book, it wants to own your life!

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends

Only it does.

It was not supposed to be this way. We and our music were supposed to rule forever. We might get old, but we’re still young at heart. No one was ever supposed to DIE! Certainly not of natural causes.

Keith Emerson was in the Nice. They covered Leonard Bernstein’s “America” from “West Side Story,” a song every baby boomer knew, since before the Beatles Broadway soundtracks ruled and our parents owned them all.

This was the late sixties, when music was exploding, when it seeped from AM to FM, when the tracks got longer, when the sounds got wilder, when we expected you to blow our mind and when you did we told everybody about you.

Like my friend Ronnie, from Brookline, Mass. We met at a summer program in New Hampshire, that’s how we bonded, over music, that was the glue of our generation. He told me about this track, he was a fan, of a band with bad vocals but an incredible keyboardist, Keith Emerson, from back when knowing how to play your instrument was a badge of honor. Guitars ruled, but there were those who took lessons, who schlepped their giant keyboards around, and dazzled us.

I still remember the cover, with those red balls on the desert sand.

I didn’t own it. Because everyone was middle class, no one was rolling in dough, there was more music we wanted to hear than we could afford, but when we went to a compatriot’s abode and saw one of these LPs, we put it on and marveled.

I heard “America.” The cognoscenti knew Keith Emerson.

But then came ELP.

Of course we didn’t call them that at first, we employed all three monikers, they were Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and they owned the biggest album of spring 1971.

It was instant. A sound heard everywhere.

I bought it sight unseen, the buzz was that loud, the reviews were that good.

You could call it prog rock, you could call it electronic, all I’ll tell you is despite what the “Billboard” chart will tell you, the ditties dominating the era, it was ELP that you heard played everywhere. Most specifically “Lucky Man.”

And sure, it was a ballad, made exquisite by Greg Lake’s voice. But what put it over the top was Keith Emerson’s synth.

It was a supergroup, even though most had heard of none, a trio, like Cream, and they were an instant classic, they toured and everybody learned that Keith Emerson stabbed his organ.

But then the backlash began, it was too much too soon, you can’t go from nowhere to everywhere overnight, the establishment doesn’t like that. The follow-up, “Tarkus,” got bad reviews. “Trilogy,” the third LP, was positively excoriated. The act was now for fans only.

But oh how the fans embraced the band.

The act was so successful that it was rewarded with its own label, Manticore, with its own colorful majordomo, Mario Medius. We knew all this, because the musicians were our heroes, and we followed them, knew everything about them, they were testing limits, challenging precepts, making it up as they went along. Imagine if Jeff Bezos were cool. Mark Zuckerberg too. Guys not only wanted to be them, girls wanted to screw them. And there were female stars too, but the point is whoever played, whoever channeled the gods, whoever dominated our consciousness, was revered. Music was our religion. And Keith Emerson was one of the deities.

And then came “Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression, Pt. 2.”

We’re so glad you could attend
Come inside, come inside

It was a ritual, you didn’t go to impress others, to post on Instagram, but to bond with the music. You knew this was your only chance to hear the deep cuts, next year the band would have a new LP and they’d only play the hits from yesteryear.

You bought your ticket at the record store, possibly mail order, and when you showed up at the arena, early, you were confronted with your generation, everybody looked like you, everybody had a similar mind, everybody had the same politics, everybody smoked dope, everybody had multiple sexual partners…

And everybody lived for the music, every day.

Come inside, the show’s about to start
Guaranteed to blow your head apart

The first note shot adrenaline through your body, you couldn’t believe you were really here, seeing your favorite band, hearing these songs live.

Rest assured you’ll get your money’s worth
The greatest show in heaven, hell or earth

Tickets were cheap, always under ten bucks. Scratch a boomer and you’ll find their peak experiences were always concerts. They can all tell you their top three!

You gotta see the show
It’s a dynamo
You gotta see the show
It’s rock and roll

Sure, “Trilogy” had the ubiquitous hit, “From The Beginning,” but at this point the media had given up on ELP, but not the fans. “Brain Salad Surgery” was huge, the band went on a monstrous arena tour, everybody had to hear “Karn Evil 9.”

And sure, there were twists and turns, changes better than any ride at Disneyland, and Greg Lake’s vocal was an integral element, and Carl Palmer’s drum fills were shots to the heart, but what kept it all together, what put it over the top, was Keith Emerson’s keyboards.

You know the intro, even if you think you don’t, it emanated from every radio in the nation for years.

And it got even better, Keith was locked into a groove and performing at a speed and quality that seemed humanly impossible.

That’s right, this guy who never sang a lick was the star of the band.

Take that all you children working with the producer du jour to run your record up the chart.

Take that all you adolescents who believe you deserve attention even though you’ve put more time into trumpeting your efforts on social media than actually practicing your instrument.

Take that all of you who believe it should come easy, with no dues, that you’re entitled to success.

Keith Emerson labored in the trenches, there was no fall back position, he just had to fall in with the right bunch of players to make it all work.

And then it didn’t.

Corporate rock took hold, radio was no longer free form, disco killed rock and then MTV caused a rebirth with strictures heretofore unknown, you had to look the part, hooks were everything and you could not go on at length. Music became more and more conservative, the business focused on pop hits, and it’s like the sixties and seventies never existed, never happened.

Only they did.

I don’t think anyone under fifty knows Jefferson Airplane deep cuts. They don’t know that Paul Kantner was a legendary hothead in a band of personalities who were all about testing limits, delivering genius along the way.

And the same press that hated ELP hated the Eagles, and the SoCal band was even bigger and better, the biggest of all time. Talk about the soundtrack of our lives…

You know this.

We know this.

But you cannot read this.

You owned a Camaro. Or maybe a Pinto. Your most valuable possession was your stereo. You scrimped and saved to buy music. You knew your favorites by heart, maybe because you played them so damn much.

And it’s a tragedy that George Martin is gone, but he made it to ninety. You’ve got to go sometime, even though we thought he was gonna be here always.

But Glenn Frey, Paul Kantner and now Keith Emerson… They were supposed to be here as long as we were, which was FOREVER!

We would like it to be known the exhibits that were shown were exclusively our own
All our own, all our own

Yes. The record company was our friend. The concert promoter too. We were all in it together, in a hermetically sealed universe wherein Keith Emerson was a member of the pantheon.

That’s how it was…

From the beginning.

Keith Emerson – Spotify playlist