Netflix trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cQZlovbS-o

I wouldn’t exactly call it FOMO.

I haven’t watched the past four seasons, I was boycotting the show and to a great degree the sport ever since Lewis Hamilton’s championship was stolen by Red Bull at the end of 2021. Actually, it’s funny, this year Christian Horner asks Netflix whether he’s going to be portrayed as a villain like he was in the previous six seasons and…he’s only got himself to blame. Lobbying the ultimately fired race director Michael Masi in Abu Dhabi. But now that McLaren is dominating and the unappealing Verstappen is losing, I’ve been reeled back in.

So I’m watching the series and the feeling starts to build, I’D LIKE TO BE THERE!

And at this late date, there are very few places I’d like to be.

But I used to get this feeling with rock concerts. And despite the fantastic grosses, the truth is music is no match for Formula 1 today. Music needs its own documentary on Netflix. A year’s review, detail by detail, with a focus not only on the acts, but the behind the scenes business people who wrestle and try to achieve success.

As for the acts…

They tend to be mercenary nincompoops. In the old days, the stars weren’t above the rest, they were aside, living in their own world, marching to the beat of their own drummer, unconcerned what anybody other than their fans felt about them, in many cases not even worried about the fans. All this made them icons. Made them desirable. They were thinkers who in most cases were rejecting conventional wisdom, living by their own rules, they were beacons to their audience, who only needed to get closer. Do I need to get closer to an act that dances on stage to prerecorded music amidst tons of production? That’s a show. But that’s not what drove me to be an addict back in the day.

As for the acts…

They’re almost always uneducated nitwits. Who don’t know the issues, never mind opine on them. They’re tools of the machine. They do what they’re told and their goal is to cash in with sponsorship/endorsements, but whatever money they make it pales in respect to the income of the Kardashians, who are famous for nothing. In other words, they’re losing the economic battle, if they were smart they’d realize their power was speaking truth to the system, but they can’t do that with their paint-by-number songs written by committee.

Not that the F1 drivers are a whole lot better. Then again, Lewis Hamilton has stood up for the rights of not only Black people, but the LGBTQ community, and he’s bigger with more reach than almost any musician. He’s not worried about pissing off sponsors.

But the drivers work for the man, the team. They’re cogs in the machine. But the machine…

The F1 cars are so sophisticated… Little tweaks make all the difference. Even the floor counts. When they show footage of teams’ HQs and you see all the people involved, WHEW!

And when you see all the people in the paddock on race day and you start adding up the numbers, the cost, you get an idea of how much money is involved.

And intelligence counts. Without it you can’t win. Sure, the drivers may be school dropouts, but usually not those who run the teams. And there are ten teams with twenty drivers in all, unlike the music business where there are only three major labels. The teams fight for talent, there’s no fighting in the music business anymore, the majors can’t break an act, never mind find talent. They’ve given up, whereas F1 teams are constantly in the trenches.

So they show the crowd at races… They far exceed the number at almost all rock shows. And when I was a young ‘un, I’d gladly pay to be one of the teeming masses. But once you get older, it’s all about access. To a degree you can pay for it, but then you get no respect. No, what you want to do is earn your place in the firmament, EARN your respect. And I’ve done that in the music business, but I’d be starting all over in Formula 1.

But the dirty little secret of Formula 1 is the races themselves are the most boring part. Usually dominated by one or two drivers, who pull away and leave everyone else behind. But the penumbra? It’s FASCINATING! The personalities, the drama, the choices…

And it happens all over the globe. I mean I saw the footage of Slovenia and it made me want to go, and I was stunned at the modern buildings in Azerbaijan. And marveled that I’d been to Singapore.

Meanwhile, the drivers all have babealicious girlfriends, even children, they’re stars. But the team principals?

Toto Wolff of Mercedes? You can’t help but like him. He’s not always complaining and shaving the edges like Christian Horner. He’s intelligent and rich. And Vasseur of Ferrari…is he lovable or an untrustworthy devil, he speaks primarily in French, I’m not sure. As for Flavio over at Alpine… He seems to be living a life beyond the status of rock star. The people he hangs with, the lifestyle he lives…also he’s got the intensity, wisdom and confidence of the rock stars of yore. He’s much closer to David Crosby than Katy Perry.

Now what Netflix and F1 should do is have a weekly show like “Inside the NFL” to recap the previous week’s race. The way they construct the annual series keeps you on the edge of your seat, keeps you riveted. And that’s what we’re all looking for, to be so into something that we concentrate on it and are taken away. The story is packaged for consumption, but there’s a lot of story, a lot of drama, the elements are there.

But in music we’re supposed to care about a rap beef. Too many bad actors displaying inane behavior, evidencing their lack of smarts.

As for going from zero to hero…

F1 drivers know you’ve got to pay your dues, work your way up the ladder, whereas musicians pronounce themselves as such at age ten or twelve or seventeen and spam everybody to pay attention on social media when there is very little there, because they have not paid their dues.

To create great lyrics, you need wisdom. To play music you need experience. But today everybody wants a shortcut. They believe they’re entitled to it.

Now F1 has an owner, a dominant presence who could arrange this Netflix series, we do not have such a thing in music. But we do have endless music shows parading wannabes who deserve no traction in front of our eyes, whether it be “Making the Band” or “The Voice” or… That’s entertainment at best, it’s not artistry, and it frequently isn’t even talent.

Would I like to be prey to a manager/agent phone call deciding on what venues to play, what ticket prices should be for big acts, like Dave Matthews or Kenny Chesney or Kendrick Lamar or… There are a lot of moving parts and the public would be fascinated by them. Did you price the tickets too low so the scalpers captured the uplift? How did tickets move on the on-sale date? What about crew issues/accidents, unforeseen costs. Did you gross as much as you did on the last tour, did you gross as much as your competitors? Music isn’t exactly a competition, but it’s laden with charts, we are constantly measuring one act against another.

But don’t expect any innovative thinking from the record labels. These are the same outfits who were disrupted by Napster. They ABHOR innovation, they love the status quo.

Relationships are key in F1 and they’re key in the music business, but most people don’t know that. Music is a people business, and it’s the people who make “Drive to Survive” so interesting.

As for the show… If you haven’t watched already, you should try, even if you know nothing about Formula 1 and believe you don’t care. It’s good drama, good television. And we want to be entertained and stimulated. Music used to have a lock on this, but not anymore, it’s abdicated its power whilst being self-congratulatory all the while.

It’s only the best in F1. There’s tons of dreck in music, a lot of what’s hyped and is even in the Spotify Top 50 is dreck. Why do you expect smart people to get involved, on either the artistic or business side. In F1 everybody knows dems da breaks. Drivers get fired if they don’t produce, as do those who run the teams. We’ve all got to serve somebody.

The show makes you want to get closer, makes you want to get involved, it makes you a fan of the sport.

This is what we need in music.

Tune in Saturday June 28th to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West.

Phone #: 844-686-5863

If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app. Search: Lefsetz

Is this the end of late stage capitalism?

Or to put it another way, is this equivalent of LET THEM EAT CAKE!

This affair is so tone-deaf. It illustrates the point that just because you’re rich, that does not mean you’re a fully rounded personality who can read the room, never mind society.

Example #1? Elon Musk. Tesla sales have dropped for the fifth straight month in Europe, they’re down by 28%, meanwhile, overall electric car sales are UP! People have had enough of the man from Africa. They’re saying “no mas.” This isn’t a judgment of the automobiles, but Musk himself. Who has run roughshod over the government and believes that the rules don’t apply to him while being a vengeful crybaby all the while.

It’s not like these two characters have not been married before. What is the need for this celebration? Just go to the justice of the peace and be done with it. But NO, everything must be done at an outrageous scale. And this seems to be all Sanchez, Bezos demonstrated none of these qualities before he became involved with her. Believe me, no male is envious of Bezos, they’re all laughing at him, he’s just another nincompoop being led around by a woman who’s been proven to bolt for finer fields when the option presents itself. If Bezos wasn’t so rich would he appeal to her? It’s not like the laughing hyena has any charisma.

So Bezos builds a yacht so big that he wants to have a bridge removed so he can get it out of harbor. And what is it with these yachts anyway? Boys and their toys. Akin to getting a Ferrari back in the day. These aren’t sailors, they’re just busy keeping up with the Joneses.

As for the guest list… As soon as you invite the Kardashians you excise any gravitas, any patina of seriousness. The family K may be rich, but they evidence no talent other than self-marketing. It doesn’t take much to look down on the Kardashians, the only ones who look up are young and unformed.

As for going to this affair… I’d say no. Venetians have been protesting for weeks. They’re still protesting. Projecting messages on buildings, placing a banner in the square imploring Bezos to pay more taxes.

This is not royalty, this is not Lady Di, never mind William and Kate.

Only two people as out of touch as Bezos and Sanchez would want to draw attention to themselves. If you’re rich you want no publicity. Hell, Brad Pitt’s house was burgled when he went to the “F1” movie premiere. You want the public out of your hair, not in it. You want your story out of the press, not in it. But these two want a victory lap, for having risen from nothing to this status. It’s ugly.

So I’m questioning myself. Would I want to be there? Do I just feel left out? Like a lower class English person believing the upper class are a wholly different caste which they have no access to, that they can only judge?

We keep hearing that people want lower taxes on the rich because they plan to be rich too. But if this is what being rich is…

Hell, being a dope dealer, a member of the Mafia… You make that money so you can booze and whore it up. Is that what life is really about? Ask a rock star, it gets really old. They get sober, they give it up long before they get old. They know it’s empty, they want to settle down and be married.

Used to be there was the American Dream. And although these two lived it, the odds of going from poor to rich have never been this long. The odds of you climbing up the economic ladder…

They don’t let you into their schools, they don’t let you into their clubs, they say they have your best interests at heart, but really they just want to keep you down in the hole you’re in.

The news is endless. The gigantic paydays for people like Zaslav who presided over the cratering of the stock for a company he put together that was laden with debt and a bad idea to begin with. I mean it’s one thing to reward someone for a good job.

But it’s a club. If you’re a CEO, you’re overpaid. Because the boards are made up of your cronies and there’s a fiction that you need to be paid or you’ll go elsewhere, that this is what you’re worth. NO ONE IS WORTH THIS MUCH!

The public is agitated. And it’s been proven again and again that uprisings, reactions, are completely unpredictable. Things appear calm, and then they explode.

I mean how much longer are people, the hoi polloi, going to take this, when they’re working for a minimum wage that is artificially low, because the owners say they can’t survive if they’re paid a living wage.

Everything is YOUR fault. They bear no responsibility. They’re the winners, you’re the loser. We hear this all day long. But you don’t have to RUB IT IN OUR FACE!

Amazon, a great service. Built to a degree on heinous business practices. Try to compete and they’ll undercut you, forcing you to sell or go bankrupt. The site itself is now barely usable, with its plethora of ads. Not to mention the real money comes from AWS and selling third party products. 

As for Sanchez… What’s the message here, get plastic surgery to the point where you look like a caricature of yourself and trade in your husband for his best friend? Is this the role model women want?

No.

Income inequality. No one needs to be that rich. It skews society. History tells us that income inequality ultimately leads to upheaval and complete change. Meanwhile, you’re going to lose your Medicaid and your SNAP benefits because you’re a bum who won’t work while simultaneously jumping through government hoops that are so daunting that you ultimately give up.

The public is laughing at Bezos and Sanchez. When they’re not angry with them.

America no longer looks up to celebrities, that’s what social media has wrought, everybody is a star, the world has been flattened. Who is admiring these two? Very few.

I don’t see them feeding starving kids, I just see them flying into space in an ultimately excoriated expedition. Didn’t they learn their lesson? You’re showing off, we’re not on your team, we’re making fun of you.

ENOUGH!

The joke will ultimately be on you.

Instant karma’s gonna get you, gonna knock you off your feet, better recognize your brothers, everyone you meet!

Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7F5Hc4ta5ivrgpVGAs5m7y?si=57e28b9b0ed34a9c

This is where the Bad Company and Mott the Hoople versions of “Ready for Love” differ.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised at all the kudos Mick Ralphs has been receiving. I didn’t expect this, especially since Bad Company gets no love from the press and the cognoscenti. Which has always baffled me. Because not only was Bad Company successful and ubiquitous and still-played on the radio today, THEY WERE GREAT!

There have been obits in every major newspaper. And more than a squib, there have been details.

And rock musicians have been testifying. You might have seen Joe Elliott’s version of “Seagull”: 

The irony being that this is the one number on the debut that Mick Ralphs did not play on, the acoustic guitar was played by Paul Rodgers, although Mick did co-write it. And the lyrics fit:

“Seagull you fly across the horizon

Into the misty morning sun”

That’s the metaphor, that dead people are now birds, in any event are up in the sky, in heaven.

However there is a twist:

“And you fly all around ’til somebody, yeah

Shoots you down”

That’s being a rock star. You fly above everybody else, they adore you, you look down upon them, but ultimately you are cut down.

As for “Seagull”… All dedicated Bad Company fans know this track that closes the second side of the album, I remember Tommy Nast mentioning it to me, actually singing it… Then again, maybe if you were a fan of Patti Smith or Whitney Houston you never even heard it. (As for me, I bought those Patti Smith albums, never a Whitney Houston one, but I could appreciate the greatness of Bad Company too. And although I occasionally sang “Kimberly” to myself back in the day, it’s Bad Company songs that I sing to myself and play to this day.)

Anyway, since Ralphs died I’ve been on a jag, playing his music, which is not usually the case. I know, I know, someone dies and consumption goes up, but if I was a fan I was usually such a big fan that to hear their music weirds me out, I don’t need to be reminded, I never forgot. But it’s been different with Mick, maybe because his work encapsulated the core of rock and roll, you could draw a straight line from Chuck Berry to him, Bad Company had no frills, it was rock and roll sans extras, it was direct, and that was its power.

Anyway, I know the albums so well, I’ve been searching for additional material. And there are a number of live albums, but you’ve got to investigate, not all of them feature Ralphs. Like “Live at Red Rocks.” Cut in 2018, Mick was already bedridden from his stroke at this point.

But there is one live set entitled “Live 1977 & 1979” that features the original band, including Mick. And last night I got hooked on that one.

The funny thing is live the band sounds a bit different, Paul’s vocals are a bit less controlled. Then again, live is where rock and roll has always lived. The energy, the feel.

First I pulled up “Simple Man.” I was stunned there was a live version of this, my favorite Bad Company song. But this take is less eerie, yet more powerful. Instead of being ethereal, it’s down to earth. Performed on a stage right in front of you, from a band that was employing no tricks, it’s just them and when they hit the chorus the emotion and the power rise.

“I’m just a simple man, trying to be me

Oh, it ain’t easy”

These are the words that resonated most last night. I just want to be me. And that’s a hard choice, a rough journey in today’s world. You can’t be you if you’re busy trying to fit in and be a member of the group, if you’re holding back for fear of offending someone.

Then I played “Good Lovin’ Good Bad,” you’d be stunned how Mick’s guitar fills up the entire space. But what I love most about this number is it requires Rodgers to sing in a higher register, he’s straining, like Levi Stubbs in those great Four Tops hits.

And I’m working through the numbers and ultimately have to play “Movin’ On” to see if it’s got the same energy as the original, recorded version. It’s got Mick’s sound and Paul is strutting and if you know the track you can envision how great it must have been to hear this live, that was what I always loved best, hearing my personal hits live, the ones I knew from playing the album from start to finish over and over again, that were embedded in my brain, I was not a casual concert attendee just there to hear the hits, not knowing much more.

But what I’ve been singing in my head most, what I’ve been playing most, is “After Lights.”

We’ve already established that the versions of “Ready for Love” by Mott the Hoople and Bad Company are different. I mean compare Paul’s strong vocal to Mick’s weak, thin one. The irony is when Mick sings “want you to stay” it’s even more believable, it evidences a need, a near desperation. And this is amped up in the second verse:

“Don’t let go, you know I’m ready for you

Don’t you be slow, you know what I’m going to do

Give it to me, you know what I’m talking of

Give it to me, I’m ready for love”

This may sound macho on paper, but if you listen to the record… He approached her, but now he’s got up his gumption, he’s emoting, he’s proving why he needs her attention.

And then the track breaks down, Mick calms down, he’s reciting the details without the emphatic emotion:

“Now I’m on my feet again

Better things are bound to happen

All my dues surely must be paid

Many miles and many tears

Times were hard but now they’re changing

You should know that I’m not afraid”

You’ve got to understand, before they make it, before they break through, musicians struggle, sometimes even if they have a record deal. They’re working all the time, they’ve got little money, but then like an alcoholic or drug addict now clean, Mick is approaching the object of his affection and letting her know he was lost, but he’s ready to be found, he’s ready for love.

Then at 3:07 the track modulates up. Adding more emotion, near-pleading, but then…it breaks down completely. There’s a keyboard solo, dark in that classic U.K. way, and then he implores her once more.

“Oh, I’m ready for love

Oh baby, I’m ready for love”

And that’s where the Bad Company version ends. But not the Mott the Hoople original. At 4:26 the number completely changes, now we’ve got AFTER LIGHTS! The cut quiets down and gets mellow, it’s like the singer and the band have been launched into space and are floating around millions of miles away. The vocals moan and then whoo-ooh and then there are guitar licks like shooting stars. And they continue. And then the track enters a groove like a space capsule orbiting the earth, and who knows what happened between him and the woman. Is he happy in his own mind, in orbit, or are they together?

This is the part I’ve been singing to myself these past few days. Especially Mick Ralphs’s moans and whoos. This has been the part that’s killed me, the last two minutes, “After Lights.” I’ve slid the slider to 4:26 in Spotify over and over and over again.

This is not hit music. Not in the way of the Spotify Top 50. But this is what the entire modern music business was built upon. It was singles with the Beatles and British Invasion, and then Hendrix and Cream came along and blew that paradigm apart. For years it was all about exploration, there were no time limits, records were adventures, it was the low spark of high heeled boys.

And then MTV made it about the hit single again. But then hip-hop, a singles driven medium, took over and now, a quarter of the way into the twenty first century it’s like it was before the Beatles all over again. There is a music business, it is purveying hits, but they’re evanescent candy that don’t touch your soul in the same way as “After Lights.” This was the experience, alone in your bedroom after dark, going on an aural adventure, having your head explode to the music. You knew other people felt the same way, but you didn’t meet most of them until you were together at the gig. And the acts knew this was their job, to set the listener’s mind free, take them away, and they could only do this by throwing off restrictions and testing the limits themselves. Who cared if the record company couldn’t hear a single, the audience was tuned in, your fans were keeping you alive.

But it’s very rare you get what is perceived to be a journeyman musician as a driving force of a superstar band. This is not the Edge getting kudos, no one talked about Mick Ralphs during his heyday, you just felt the music, the audience just knew. But without him there would be a hole not only in these bands, but in rock and roll history. You see if you did it right the roots were evident, but the end result was just a little bit different, which is what made you special. And you had to have the chops to make it. There was no autotune, no hard drives on stage, you were playing without a net and the audience could sense this tension.

Mick Ralphs was too ill to attend the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, yet he did know the band was finally in, but I wish he’d still been alive to experience this well of emotion, these testimonials from his peers and his fans, for this final victory lap.