The inside joke is the corpulent Christie is a huge fan of the Boss.

And who really is the Boss? The people with all the money or those with all the fans, the artists?

That’s the power of performers… The ability to move the masses. Back when they used to stand for something, way before they were just vessels for endorsements, two-dimensional icons for behind the scenes players to attach advertising messages.

If you think anybody cares about Springsteen’s new album, you’re a fan of the man who never misses a show and have probably flown to a gig to boot. Because albums are too labored, not spontaneous.

Yes, once music was not for tomorrow, just today. Ask the English rockers, they thought they were going back to the factory, they didn’t believe they’d be plying the boards decades later.

So what we’ve got here is a late night comedian with a sense of humor about himself who is willing to break the format established by Carson and honed by Letterman that everyone believes they must adhere to.

Now I’m not saying Jimmy Fallon will triumph at 11:30, because the truth is his audience does not believe in appointment television, we no longer believe in appointment anything, you tell me I’ve got to tune in to see plastic-surgeried “stars” hype their latest worthless projects as the hosts fawn over them? Ecch…

But we’ve always got time for creativity. Assuming we can consume it on our own timetable.

All entertainment is now a web play, not only music. Can you put it online where everybody can see it?

And not only does Mr. Fallon know this, but suddenly Mr. Springsteen.

So what we’ve got here is a concept. Fleshed out. On the spot. Kind of like the best songs of yore, like “Satisfaction,” which were written in a burst of inspiration and laid to wax moments later, in a matter of hours. Today we labor over our art to the point where it’s so overworked no one can relate to it, all the inspiration is smoothed over and the magic is eviscerated.

But not here.

Come on… You like piling on Christie, right? Mess with our taxes, cut off our unemployment, but don’t mess with our CARS! That’s an American right, the ability to get in your low mileage machine and scorch the earth of this great nation of ours.

And if you can’t…

Meanwhile, Bruce Springsteen has a new album to sell.

Radio isn’t gonna play it. Come on, he’s too old for Top Forty and his music doesn’t sound right and he hasn’t written a hit in eons.

But all the ancient rag writers have weighed in, as if reviews mean anything in this cacophonous world.

But a little skit on late night TV evidencing more than a smidge of creativity and a sense of humor… We’re ready for that!

Fallon does a pretty good Boss. He’s actually more comprehensible than the man himself. But it’s the moments of interaction that make you smile. But not as much as the nuances… The need to pee, the “Jerseyland” reference. This is the best of high school in action. Or “Your Show Of Shows.” That’s what we’re looking for, a bolt of creativity, not slick, worthless, me-too product.

So what we’ve got here is a burst of publicity for Springsteen that actually eclipses the new album. If he were smart, he’d appear on Fallon’s show in skits like this on a regular basis, we’re much more interested in stuff like this than his new music.

That’s the new paradigm… Being in the game on a regular basis. Sure, you want to go on the road, but if you’re not feeding those who might be interested, you’re gonna be forgotten.

But the Boss deserves props. Because he’s never sold out, never done endorsements, he can nakedly make fun of Christie not worrying about payback…what is Chris gonna do, prevent him from playing in Newark, at the Meadowlands?

That’s the power of art!

I don’t know why “Dream Weaver” survives and “Love Is Alive” has been forgotten.

I knew who Gary Wright was, but I didn’t know his music. Because Spooky Tooth got no airplay anywhere I lived, and in the seventies you had to buy an album to hear it, and nobody I knew owned any of the act’s work.

But then Gary Wright made a deal with Warner Brothers and made “The Dream Weaver” and in the summer of ’75, “Love Is Alive” was all over FM radio.

It was different from today. There were no iPods, at best you had a tape player, satellite radio was inconceivable, we were addicted to FM, hell, they even made a movie about it. And we’d push the buttons and wallow in a glorious sound that evidenced the youth of the U.S.A.

I was working at Hollywood Sporting Goods, on Hollywood Boulevard. In addition to the wackos, one day H.R. Haldeman came in looking for Tretorns. I sold him a pair, even though the discount price in the newspaper ad he brought in didn’t apply. And I remember distinctly listening to “Love Is Alive” in my car waiting to go in for my shift, listening to the radio during lunch.

The rap was it was all keyboards. That’s what the deejay said. And most certainly it was about the sound.

But really, it was all about that change.

My heart is on fire
My soul’s like a wheel that’s turning
My love is alive
My love is alive

The track started off all exuberant. Not so different from the emotion and attitude in so many other tracks. But when you hit the chorus, it was like Gary Wright got down on one knee, put his hand over his heart and testified.

But it was more than that.

It was that synthesizer bass all over the track.

The otherworldly synths.

And the drums. Slapping. Gary Wright didn’t have the best voice, but the track pulsed with power, it was undeniable.

Every time that intro sound came through the speakers my heart started to glow. The backbeat, the synthesizer bass, the ethereal synth and then…

THE RIFF!

Before this they’d been on guitars. Which made this one novel, you were entreated to come join the party, of the seventies, the sixties were finally done, but music was still burgeoning.

Well I think it’s time to get ready
To realize just what I have found
I have lived only half of what I am
It’s all clear to me now

It was different back then. No one was on the fast track, at least no one I knew. We didn’t meet with campus recruiters, we had no plans after college, our main goal was to find ourselves. You turned on the music and hit go!

There’s a mirror moving inside my mind
Reflecting the love that you shine on me
Hold on now to that feelin’
Let it flow, let it grow, yeah, yeah

That’s what we were all doing. Looking for love. Hookup culture was decades away. Nobody got married early. We were all looking for fulfillment, enrichment and satisfaction.

And no date went on without music.

No sex transpired without music.

It inspired us.

It made us who we were.

And “Love Is Alive” was part of it. “Dream Weaver” is kitschy nostalgia, “Love Is Alive” is seventies essence. A decade that gets a bad rap but featured some amazing music.

Rhinofy-Love Is Alive

Let’s go down to the Sunset Grill

I never talk on the telephone and I never go to lunch.

That’s just how busy I am. Actually, that’s because everybody wants to waste my time, selling me their wares. Don’t ask to pick my brain, ask what you can do for ME!

But I have a long-standing tradition of going to lunch with Don Passman and we’d been working on a date for months and today was the day.

Don reserved the number one table. The one I’d previously occupied with Irving and Penske. But that’s another story…

And on the steps of the Grill, the Beverly Hills outlet, on the alley, not the hamburger stand in the Don Henley song, I ran into my dentist. The most expensive in the world. Who saved my tooth. Shouldn’t he be back in the office practicing? But I guess everybody’s living the lifestyle of the rich and famous in Beverly Hills.

Also on the steps we encountered Bruce Ramer, Don’s law partner. Who was intimate and cracked jokes. Was this his personality or could it be that inside the clubhouse everybody’s friends? I’m not sure.

And after sitting down, Bernie Yuman came by.

Huh?

He knew me but I didn’t know him.

And then Don told me Bernie was the manager of Siegfried and Roy, the Vegas connection.

And then came Jerry Bruckheimer.

Now it was getting ridiculous. I don’t know Jerry, but Don does. I felt like I was doing myself a disservice sitting in front of the computer at home, that some things never changed, that business was personal, and you were best to show up.

And as I was contemplating this, someone sat right down next to me in the booth.

TROY CARTER!

I just read the “Fast Company” piece last night!

TROY CARTER: FIRED BY LADY GAGA AND LOVING IT

We discussed John Mayer and POPwater and talked about getting together and I wondered if there was no one who was not here.

But then Irving came by and I knew it was untrue, that everybody was here. And for the moment, I was exactly where it was happening.

P.S. Do you think I don’t know you’re making fun of me right now? All you big shots with your hundreds of Twitter followers? The truth is business is not democratic, each and every one is run by a club. And you know if you’re inside. And as George Carlin would say, you’re not. Sorry.

P.P.S. Reach a level of success and you become gun-shy. You’re afraid to play because of the blowback. Which is why you can’t meet the stars. They’re afraid of your smartphones and your inability to understand that just because you’ve listened to their music or seen their TV shows, you really know nothing about them and they know nothing about you.

P.P.P.S. I heard about the history of Gang, Tyre, Ramer and Brown. Gang started off in the thirties taking everything that came through the door. Specialization comes down the road. You take every gig that’s offered on the way in.

P.P.P.P.S. Gene Salomon told me his eleven year old was already over One Direction. They got a year. That’s right, while you’re plotting your next album, the audience is already forgetting about you.

P.P.P.P.P.S. We discussed the future of the music business. I said there will be fewer acts who will become more successful. Everybody hates to hear this. They want to believe the Internet gives them opportunity. But the truth is in the era of cacophony, when everything is at our fingertips, we gravitate to excellence, authorized by our compatriots. Don’t shoot the messenger. People would rather listen to the work of the superstar than your wannabe band. As for listening to your CD a few times…Gene told me he doesn’t watch TV, I don’t either, other than Bill Maher, we don’t have any time, no one’s got any time.

P.P.P.P.P.P.S. I met with Michael Gudinski at the Peninsula before this. It was that kind of day, a Beverly Hills one. Gudinski flew in for the Peter Grosslight tribute at the Forum. That’s the biggest story in the music business this week, the reopening of the gussied up L.A. Forum with the Eagles. You might think what happens on your blog is important, but the truth is this is a controlled business, run by the usual suspects, and the only people knocking on the door to get in are those who cannot. Because those who could truly revolutionize the business don’t want in, there’s not enough money involved, never mind opportunity.

P.P.P.P.P.P.P.S. And that’s a day in the life in L.A. Where right now it’s 77 degrees in Santa Monica and there’s not a cloud in the sky. Yes, you can make it anywhere, but then why do all the techies move to San Francisco?

The Grill on the Alley, Beverly Hills

It’d be like Justin Timberlake making a country record.

What kind of crazy fucked up world do we live in where all the creativity comes in business, and the artists keep repeating themselves, hoping that they’ll get a different result?

One in which T-Mobile’s John Legere is shaking up the wireless industry and the automobile market leader, Ford, is revolutionizing its F-150 pickup.

This is what musicians used to do. Remember the Beatles? One thing we knew about that band is every album would be different, they didn’t repeat themselves, and unlike every other sixties group, they’re gonna last.

The F-150 has been the best selling automobile for thirty two years straight in the United States. It accounts for forty percent of Ford’s profits. You don’t mess with an icon, do you?

OF COURSE YOU DO!

Because Ford could see the handwriting on the wall. That stringent fuel economy laws are going to apply and the public is wary of high gas prices. So they switched the body to aluminum, downsized the engines and got five more miles per gallon than their competitors. Sound like a triumph?

IT DOES TO ME!

But the customers won’t like it! They’re used to their steel trucks! They want big, V8 engines! Never mess with a successful product!

But this is how Detroit got its lunch eaten by Japan in the first place.

This is all about the power of the individual, Alan Mulally. Who reengineered Ford’s finances, who did not take money from the government, who authorized this plan.

With all this hogwash about teams and getting along, the truth is triumphs are always the domain of individual visionaries. From Steve Jobs to Mr. Mulally. If you’re looking for consensus, you’re headed for mediocrity, or failure.

Kind of like today’s music.

How many people wrote the song? The label weighed in with its input?

No wonder it’s headed for the middle of the market and soon to be forgotten. No one’s betting the farm in music, they’re all just hoping the same crops grow until they retire.

Doug Morris, our lauded leader, looks back more than forward. I’d like to know what apps he uses on his iPhone.

Lucian Grainge is positively old school. Let me see… I’ll buy up market share and pay for the best artists. Not a bad strategy, but not a revolutionary strategy.

Hell, look at Jim Dolan in the concert space. He’s investing when everybody else is crying. Who else is gonna spend a hundred million to redo the Forum? Look what he did to the Beacon. People want to go to a first class venue and be treated right, but most concerts are held in places akin to prisons.

But it’s the music that gets them there…

And what we’ve got is classic rock acts and a bunch of spectacle. Yup, most new shows are like the circus, with dancing and acrobatics…can you hear me Pink? What’s that got to do with what goes in the ears?

But too many people have watched reality singing competitions. They think being beautiful is a prerequisite to making it. And if you can blow the door down like one of the three little pigs, you’re ready.

Look at country, where they’re replicating the rock sound of the seventies while leaving the outlaws out. Talk about a controlled environment.

As for rock, it’s already dead.

At least there’s a bit of innovation in EDM.

As for hip-hop… The goal is to sell out. If music isn’t enough for you, I don’t want to listen.

So what we’ve got is people salivating over the latest tech products. Companies thinking outside the box because they know competition is fierce. We’re wowed on a regular basis.

But in music, all we’ve got is complaints! They’re stealing my music, they won’t listen to the whole album…

Want me to listen to the whole album?

MAKE IT DIFFERENT! MAKE IT INTRIGUING! TAKE A RISK!

But the only people willing to take risks are the untalented who have not made it.

Every day I read about ridiculous albums I don’t need to hear. Kind of like Peter Gabriel’s cover album and its reverse. Huh? MAKE NEW MUSIC PETER! YOU USED TO TEST LIMITS, NOW YOU’RE ABOUT COMMERCE!

As for the new acts… Tell me what Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters have done that’s any different from what transpired forty years ago. So he’s a good imitation of what once was. SO WHAT!

You can’t buy a Chevy Vega and no one wants the Ford Pinto.

But we keep putting a new body on musical trash and expect the public to get excited about it.

The problem is us.

P.S. You want an aluminum auto body? Then get a Tesla Model S, Audi A8 or a Jaguar, no mainstream automobile features one. Because they’re expensive and hard to work on. So what we’ve got here is a mainstream company LEADING the public to a new world for the benefit of all. Do you see that in music? The land of the compliant? Where what’s featured on radio today ain’t much different from what Mariah Carey was doing two decades ago?