Oldsters are about yesterday.

Youngsters are about today.

Documenting your entire life history, building a timeline, a shrine to yourself, so that the people you grew up with will be impressed? That’s for baby boomers. Their children want nothing to do with it. Kids are for living, oldsters are for dying.

Baby boomers didn’t start the texting revolution…

Want to communicate with your millennial in college? Then you’d better learn how to text, the younger generation barely e-mails. Talking on the phone? Who’d want to waste so much time!

The oldsters are rarely early adopters. They know the value of money, they’re set in their ways. For all the old bloviators bemoaning the loss of privacy online, it’s the kids who got the memo, that if they post pictures of illicit activity they might not get a job in the future. Kids believe in evanescence, oldsters believe in the permanent record. Ergo, the growth of Snapchat.

Kind of like the Facebook phone. The business media did not stop trumpeting its arrival. But the truth is a kid has no problem employing Facebook on his phone, assuming he wants to use it, it’s only oldsters who have this problem, oldsters who are not about to switch providers who are still lamenting the loss of physical keyboards. Want to know how someone’s technologically toast? If they still use a BlackBerry. You’re wiping out utilization, because it’s all about apps. E-mailing and texting back and forth is for business people who miss the future, as they plot where to have lunch.

There seems to be this belief that there’s stasis in the digital realm. As if Microsoft still ruled and tablets were not about to eclipse desktops. Sure, the digital highway is littered with the carcasses of failed enterprises, whether it be MySpace or Pets.com, but to think that iTunes is forever is to have missed the memo. The main asset of iTunes? The credit card numbers. Other than that?

As for Google… It’s been proven no one can eclipse the company in search, but is search, as we know it today, important tomorrow? Are we really gonna just type keywords into a blank field?

Interesting question.

The only company that seems to know what’s going on is Amazon. Which refuses to worry about profits and keeps plowing whatever money it makes into innovation, old style Microsoft innovation, not pure, incredible Apple innovation. Yup, the first iteration of Amazon products always sucks…but they keep on improving them. And they keep adding features to Prime and inventing new products.

What is the new product of Facebook?

Facebook didn’t come up with Tumblr or Pinterest, and certainly missed out on Twitter.

And isn’t it fascinating that the young ‘uns were the last to come to Twitter. The old techies and early adopters were there first. But their parents still don’t understand the need for Twitter, never mind how to use it.

We live in a fluid society. If your result comes up on the second page of Google, it might as well not exist…hell, if it’s not one of the first two or three hits, if not the very first.

Bury that information on Facebook, soon no one will see it.

But those who care are exchanging real time info constantly in the new world. That’s where it’s at.

And searching for profits, locked into an old paradigm, establishing contact between the distant, the lost, Facebook is missing the future.

Look at it this way… Kids already knew their friends, were already in constant contact with them. It’s baby boomers who needed to catch up on the lost souls.

I’m not saying Facebook is toast. I’m not saying no oldsters use Twitter.

But I am saying to look at the trends.

Microsoft owned desktop computing. They’ve even been reluctant to port their productivity apps to the iPad.

Is this a recipe for further success?

Tech is like bands, they’re rarely forever.

And if you want to know what a kid’s up to, going to their Facebook page will tell you very little. Hell, they’re leaving few digital crumbs for their parents… They’re devouring the cookies and leaving no trace!

I’m trying to separate the signal from the noise.

Once upon a time, information was scarce, like music. You had to hunt for it, no one was pointing a fire hose at your face, which is what logging on to the Internet is like. It’s a tsunami of information. Time is limited. Where do you place your attention?

According to Eric Schmidt of Google, today we generate more data in a single day than the entire world created prior to 2003.

Whew!

“Noise” means…useless information.

“Signal” means…truth.

I got that from this month’s story on Nate Silver in “Fast Company”:

MOST CREATIVE PEOPLE 2013
1. NATE SILVER
PRINCIPAL, FIVETHIRTYEIGHT; AUTHOR

Interestingly, I can’t recommend the article. The facts are there, but the narrative is less than incredible.

And I only have time for incredible.

And so do you.

I’m catching up on my reading, I’ve got a stack of magazines as high as Mini-Me. And what stuns me is not only the repetition of information, but the amount of useless information.

The PR flacks believe if they just blast the story, somehow it will take.

And the magazines too often are just filling space. Like “Fast Company” pushing the “100 Most Creative People In Business.” And “New York” telling us what to do this summer.

Huh?

I don’t know who these “Fast Company” people are, the squibs give me almost no information, and there’s so much data in the “New York” issue that it makes me question its veracity. Kind of like how they give you twenty five must-dos every issue. Huh? I’ve only got time for two or three, maybe only one! Give me twenty and I ignore them all!

That’s the problem we’re confronting. Not only is everybody trying to push a square peg into a round hole, the hole is the size of a needle’s eye, it just won’t fit. But that doesn’t stop the purveyors. Every day I get tons of e-mail imploring me to listen to the productions of people I’ve never heard of. If I checked out all their music, I’d be unable to do anything else. It’s all just…noise.

I’m not saying it’s not good.

Wait a second, I am. Well, a bunch of it is good, but as stated above, I only have time for great, INCREDIBLE!

We need Ray Davies to write a song about it.

But with no traction in the offing, he’s put down his pen.

Then we have idiots like John Fogerty re-recording his hits with a bunch of today’s names. Huh? That was the nineties paradigm. When information was still scarce. I’ll listen to the original, but I rarely have time for that. You want me to listen to imitation remakes? Come on, tell me the time the latter-day duet was better than the original…it’s never happened in my book.

So we’ve got sellers and consumers.

And the consumers are inundated with noise. To the point where they ignore almost everything that’s incoming, they only pay attention to their trusted filters, who most often are human beings, friends.

You  can’t trust Pandora… If you think the service is about anything but money, you haven’t followed the travails of Tim Westergren. Oh, he TALKS about music, but he’s being pressured by Wall Street to provide better returns. It’s all a ruse. Like his recommendations.

And then there’s the “Huffington Post.” Where the links are intriguing but the stories don’t exist. As they say in today’s parlance, it’s all link-bait, I’ve stopped clicking, entirely, yet old media keeps trumpeting the genius of Arianna… Huh?

As for record reviews… If you trust what’s in “Rolling Stone,” you’re a better person than me. Hell, all over the web are tons of short reviews. At most I’m interested in the average, like Rotten Tomatoes for movies. Give me the general feel, is it necessary to pay attention?

This is a big problem.

Because there’s just not enough time for all the new productions. In the seventies, you could see every movie. Today, most indie movies go unreleased, there’s nowhere for them to play.

That doesn’t mean we don’t have to read stories about them.

But then you check out the result and…

It’s kind of like the James Salter hype, perpetuated by “The New Yorker”… Interesting backstory, but now that the book has come out, everyone agrees it doesn’t deserve the push…

And then everything’s forgotten.

Today’s story is yesterday’s news. Literally. Movies play for a weekend. Records enter the chart at number one and then fall precipitously. Meanwhile, the chart isn’t reflective of what’s really going on anyway.

But mostly this is a personal story. I don’t know whether to try and keep up or cry UNCLE! To burn the midnight oil or check out and just live my life.

I’m trying to whittle down. I’ve stopped reading those stories that talk about what MIGHT happen unless I’m truly interested in the subject. I’ll wait until the Supreme Court decides, I can miss the pre-analysis.

And then there’s e-mail.

I’m gonna tell you a dirty little secret. The longer you write, the less I read. Truly, unless your e-mail is fascinating, and this does happen occasionally, if you’re writing multiple paragraphs I skim…because I’ve got no time.

No one has any time.

Who’s watching 24 hour cable news? Unless there’s a crisis, it’s like watching paint dry. Oh, check the ratings, they’re horrific.

Same with late night television… For all the ink spilled about Fallon succeeding Leno, the ratings for all these shows go down down down. Why? Because instead of being subjected to these promotional circle jerks, people are watching dramas on their DVRs, or Netflix. Given choice, they don’t want what they got before. Kind of like the network news… I’m gonna tune in for appointment TV presented by a slimmed-down team that’s taking its cues from “The New York Times,” the only newspaper with enough reporters on the beat?

As for “The New York Times”… So much of what’s in there is placed by the aforementioned PR people. You read the hype, then it’s gone. Kind of like Steve Martin’s album with Edie Brickell. That story was EVERYWHERE! But I’ve never ever had a single person tell me they listened to the record. To quote the Eagles, it’s already gone.

And if you made it this far, I’m impressed. I’m doing my best, but it stuns me you’re reading at all, that you’re giving me your time.

But then there are the people who e-mail me and tell me I’m doing it wrong, to STFU. And maybe I am, but then why are you still reading?

Yes, the Stevie Winwood track, the one that took him from rock credibility to the mainstream, that made him an MTV dancing fool, that gave him twenty-odd years of touring goodness, despite having so many classic credentials in his back pocket before this…can you say GIMME SOME LOVIN’? Never mind “I’m A Man” and “Dear Mr. Fantasy”?

So who do we want to credit?

Maybe Steve and Will Jennings, who wrote it.

Better yet, Russ Titelman, who produced it. Check Russ’s credits, there may be commercial failures, but never artistic ones. Even without his partner Lenny Waronker, Titelman was a fountain of excellence, he goosed artists to give their best, whether it be Clapton, McVie or Winwood. Ultimately, I think Russ is the winner here, he put the players together, he had the vision. But vision doesn’t make a hit track.

Maybe credit should go to Chaka Khan who is doing her best emotional/sexual singing/screaming, it sounds like she’s about to come, and that’s a GOOD THING!

Then there’s Carole Steele on the congas. They add a feel, a vibe, that makes the song unique. But they’re just part of the stew, a minor element, not the key.

Or maybe Philippe Saisse, with the synthesizer bass. Yup, one can argue strongly that “Back In The High Life” is the album that brought this sound mainstream, that made keyboard players the bottom as opposed to pickers. And maybe Mr. Saisse should not be underestimated, since he’s part of the rhythm section, the foundation.

Then there are those synth horns. So exuberant. Programmed by David Frank.

But also playing synth, but this time drums, is Mr. Winwood himself. Yes, we keep coming back to the rhythm section, anchored by…John Robinson. The same John Robinson underlying Daft Punk’s monstrous “Random Access Memories”? YES!

But he’s not the only one…

When I think of “Higher Love,” there’s a single part that always comes to mind, the one that begins right after the first verse…yes, that’s when the unmistakable playing of Nile Rodgers begins. It sounds like he’s cracking pistachios, running his fingers over soft rocks, the sound is uniquely his without dominating, just adding a dollop of essence, a spice that makes the whole track come alive.

Are you getting this? IT’S THE SAME GUYS!

Have we come full circle? Is not only the sound of “Random Access Memories” reminiscent of the seventies, but the whole damn paradigm? In other words, will records become expensive once again, played by humans with tons of experience?

This would be a sea change. It would require everybody to do what no one in America will, never mind the music business…and that’s RESET! Yup, adjust their vision downwards. Think about music instead of money. Maybe making records is no longer about getting rich, but getting it RIGHT!

Maybe no more bitching about theft.

Maybe no more comparison to the titans of tech and banking.

Maybe no more questioning what happens to the songwriter.

Maybe just playing.

And despite all the bitching, I’m telling you now, people are gonna pay for music in the future. If you’re thinking about piracy, you’re thinking wrong, because stealing is just too difficult, it’s easier to just pull up Spotify and listen, just like you pay for convenience in so many other areas.

So there will be money…

For the winners.

And the winners will be a small coterie of people who write and play at the level of the past. That’s right, now you’ve got to be BETTER than ever before. Because the rest of recorded history is just a click away.

This is a good thing.

The playing field is now level. There’s no issue of getting your effort into the retail shop, of getting paid. Now you can focus on what you do best, making MUSIC!

Nobody involved in “Higher Love” was a newbie. From Titelman to Winwood to Robinson and Rodgers, they’d all paid their dues, something that’s anathema today, where everything must be instant.

But music is not like MySpace, it’s not even like Facebook. When done right, music is forever, it’s made to last.

Like “Higher Love.” Which sounds as fresh today as it did when it was released back in 1986.

“Back In The High Life” was not made overnight. It was not cheap.

But it was right.

That’s what we’re interested in today. What’s right.

Ladies and gentlemen…START YOUR ENGINES!

P.S. Yes, I know other people played on this track too. They deserve kudos, it’s definitely a team effort.

Rhinofy-Higher Love

Previous Rhinofy playlists

Oh to write a song as good as “Shower The People”…

I’m supposed to be at dinner, but I can’t stop watching “Boston Strong.”

Once upon a time these events were on television, when they were infrequent, when we had not yet become inured to tragedy in our lives. Still, isn’t it interesting that when a crisis appears, we always turn to our artists, our musicians. There’s no music in school, we live in a money-grubbing, too often soulless country. We depend upon our artists to give it all meaning.

And that’s what James Taylor and Carole King are doing right now.

I know, I know, they’ve been on an endless reunion tour.

But…if you’re a baby boomer, they’re our soundtrack.

Once all the rebellion is put to sleep, when you realize that you’re not special, that life is for living, you cast aside your prejudices and just…enjoy. You might have been a tattooed, angry soul yesterday, but tomorrow you’re Bieber or Amanda Bynes…history.

Because there’s no basis, no backup, no catalog. But if you stay at it for years, you get really good, you touch our souls.

Like with “Shower The People”…

Once you tell somebody the way that you feel
You can feel it beginning to ease

That’s life. It’s about sharing. Don’t keep it inside. Tell people.

You can play the game
And you can act out the part
Though you know it wasn’t written for you
But tell me how can you stand there
With your broken heart
Ashamed of playing the fool

Image. It’s not everything it’s cracked up to be. We’re all imperfect. We all have problems with bathing suits. Own it. Your life will get easier.

You can run but you cannot hide
This is widely known
And what you plan to do
With your foolish pride
When you’re all by yourself alone

That’s what we want to be…together. And that’s what we do during live events. Tune in, feel part of it.

In this crazy world where no one stays in one place anymore, we unite when it’s immediate, when it’s one time only, the replay will not do.

TV has lost the plot. It thinks it’s about ratings when it’s truly about content. Which is all over the web, in hi-def, blow this image up full-screen and it will blow your mind…it’s so sharp.

And sure, it’d be better to be there…

Then again, maybe not. At these big events you can’t get a seat up close and personal unless you’re rich or know somebody, which most people don’t. But online, you can be right there in the first row. You can see the lines in the faces…the performers appear HUMAN! Something too many celebrities are evading, with their plastic surgery and Botox and… But it’s experienced faces we truly want to see, those with the decades etched upon them, reminding us of not only who they were, but who we are too.

When this old world starts getting you down…

Put on a record.

It’ll keep you going, it’ll save your life.

Boston Strong