And I thought love was only true in fairy tales.

The legend of the Monkees is that they didn’t write their own songs, they didn’t play their own instruments, the whole think was fake.

WRONG!

The Monkees were the first indication that we’d won. That the old guard, the establishment, our parents, were no longer in control. We had our own sitcom on TV. Featuring our music. That was a gigantic breakthrough.

But what was even better was the music was great! In the case of "I’m A Believer", spectacular! Credit the songwriters, credit the delivery, but never forget it was a band, which came together through obtuse circumstances, like so many, but went on to not only create music, but stay together, even after their eponymous television show had been canceled.

And Micky Dolenz might have sung most of the songs.

But Davy was the front man, he was the cute one, he was the one the girls swooned for, the one we wanted to be.

Even better, he had a sense of humor about himself. He was funny back then, and knew he’d lived a charmed life until it all ended today.

Here we come
Walk down the street
We get the funniest looks
From everyone we meet

There’s not a baby boomer alive who does not know "(Theme From) The Monkees". This was not a Justin Bieber sideshow, the Monkees had more impact than Mr. Bieber or Lady Gaga. They were ubiquitous in a three network world where we were addicted to the radio when we weren’t in front of the tube.

There are classic album openers, like "Gimmie Shelter" and "Back In The U.S.S.R.", and "(Theme From) The Monkees" is a member of this club. You’re hooked from the initial drumbeat. And unlike modern hip-hop culture, the listener didn’t feel excluded, put down by the group, but invited in.

But the hit was "Last Train To Clarksville". It played all fall until… "I’m A Believer" took over and owned the airwaves, through Christmas and beyond.

A magical track, "I’m A Believer" pivoted on Micky Dolenz’s breathy vocals, but we didn’t see it as a solo cut, but a masterpiece by the Monkees. It still puts a smile on my face today. I played it incessantly back then. I have never ever burned out on it. In a pre-Internet era where we didn’t have our music on demand, you listened to the radio until they played your favorite song and then you went out and bought it.

Which I did.

I even bought the songbook, so I could play the songs at home, on my guitar. Not because I thought I was gonna be rich and famous, but because I wanted to share in the joy.

And I’m stunned how joyful I feel when I hear "Pleasant Valley Sunday" today. I’d given up at this point, as you often do. I bought the first three albums and then dropped out, but years later I realized I was wrong, this was a killer track.

But, once again, Davy did not sing the lead vocal.

But not only did Davy carry the hit "Daydream Believer", he sang "I Wanna Be Free", "This Just Doesn’t Seem To Be My Day" and "Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)", which were as big as the hits to we who wore out these vinyl records.

I saw Davy twice in recent years. Once at the Pollstar Awards, where he demonstrated the aforementioned sense of humor about himself and last summer at the Greek, as part of the Monkees reunion.

At Pollstar, Davy talked about being a fading, aged rock star. The bills for college. He mocked his height, or lack thereof. And was essentially shilling for work, that’s why you present at the Pollstar Awards.

At the Greek, the band played all the hits, we reveled in the memories. They showed video, we marveled over who we once were. It was thrilling, but shortly thereafter they broke up once again and the rest of the tour was canceled.

And that’s the story of rock and roll, of being a fan. We want our bands to last forever. But they almost never do. The alchemy is so fragile. But the music remains. We put our faith in it. It keeps us going.

Such that when one of its purveyors passes to the other side, we’re shocked. We thought they’d be here forever, with us, like the music. We looked up to them. If they’re old and gray and pass away, what is to happen to us?

I don’t know if Davy Jones went to the doctor. If he adhered to his prescription. In any event, he’s now gone. He was a thread, however thin, to what once was, my formative years, I didn’t have a bad memory about him. But if he goes, that means I’m next.

Yes, we baby boomers are heading into our sunset years. And as we’re shuffled off the horizon, they want to rewrite our history.

Let it be said that we were mad about the Monkees. Their music stands the test of time. They were trailblazers. They were not hula-hoops, used briefly and then discarded with disdain, but a group of four men we embraced warmly. They let Jimi Hendrix open for them. They created one of the first psychedelic films. Hell, to get "Head" you’ve got to be high on drugs. It was co-written by Jack Nicholson before anyone knew who he was. Don’t pigeonhole the Monkees as a trifle, as a mere footnote, as puppets. With their television show on the air it showed us not only that we had won, but the music was the decisive weapon in our battle. Soon bands like the Jefferson Airplane would be testing limits, we’d all gather at Woodstock and blow the mainstream’s mind.

We owned the country. It was now ours.

And it would have happened slower, and it would have been different without the Monkees.

Great songs, great performances… If that ain’t the essence of music, I don’t know what is.

Davy, we’ll never forget you.

"I don’t want to sell anything, buy anything or process anything as a career. I don’t want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or…process anything sold, bought or processed, or repair anything sold, bought or processed, you know, as a career I don’t want to do that."

Lloyd Dobler
"Say Anything"

Lloyd Dobler explains what he wants to do with his life

Stealing and selling. That’s the American way.

My father said everyone’s a salesman.

Maybe that’s why I don’t want to be one.

Or maybe it’s my education, in the wilds of Vermont, in the pre-Internet era, off the grid where the world of commerce never intruded.

I hate salesmen. Almost as much as the lying, cheating, scumbags who believe winning is about having an edge. Not purveying the best product honestly, but screwing somebody to get ahead.

Ugh.

I think my eyes are gonna roll into the back of my head. From the wannabes to the household names, they’re constantly dunning me to pay attention. Not with equanimity, but with a full court press, as if they were Kobe and their lives depended on sinking the basket.

They don’t want to know your opinion, unless it agrees with theirs.

They just want to tell you that whatever they’re selling is revolutionary! The best ever! Just let them tell you why!

And they drone on for hours, until you make up an excuse about kidney failure or a family emergency, it’s got to be that significant a lie in order to be excused. But in the meantime, they’re gonna follow you out to your car and make you waste more time before you can finally get inside, turn the key and mutter yourself WHAT AN ASSHOLE, as the young Alvy says about Joey Nichols in "Annie Hall".

We’ve become a nation of self-promoters. Used to be you had a job with the company, or maybe you were a teacher, you consumed, but you did not sell. Now everybody’s got a Facebook page and an app they cooked up in their spare time and if you’d only go to lunch with them they’d explain to you how it’s going to change the world, especially if you get on the bandwagon with them, and help sell it, pro bono, because it’s such a special project.

I know, I asked for it, I published my e-mail address, I put myself out there, but the endless number of people getting in my face just makes me want to retreat.

How many great albums come out a year? Certainly fewer than twenty five. Ten? But there’s over a hundred thousand released and if you’d just take a few hours to listen to the salesman’s music, you’d get it too.

Do you really think you’re gonna invent the new music distribution system when MOG is trying to sell itself in the wake of Spotify’s success?

Stealing and selling are a cancer that’s eating up our society. Despite ready information at our fingertips, online, separating the wheat from the chaff, you want us to ignore all that and listen to you, so you can get ahead, so you can make money, so you can leave us behind.

Yes, that’s your goal. You don’t care about us. We’re just a cog in the wheel, a step in the process. If you play your cards right you won’t even need to deal with us anymore. You can fly in a private jet and vacation on a private island. You don’t want to be my friend, you just want my money or my influence or…

P.S. If you’re gonna sell, can you at least be creative as opposed to in my face? Maybe the best element of the Oscar telecast, along with the Christopher Guest troupe, was Jimmy Kimmel’s "Say Anything" promo. It had everything the rest of the show did not, humor and a respect for the audience, believing viewers were aware of this film which never won an Oscar but is in a whole generation’s DNA.

Jimmy Kimmel Live – Oprah "Say Anything" promo

The Great Ticket Scandal – Dispatches | Channel4 UK [VIDEO]

If only "60 Minutes" dedicated an hour to scalping…

But American media is famous for refusing to question the status quo or skimming over the details to the point where the point is not made.

Bottom line?

The acts like it this way.

Huh?

The acts like to scalp their own tickets. The acts want you to believe Ticketmaster is to blame. In an era of transparency, you can count on the music business to believe in obfuscation.

The solution to ticket scalping is the acts.

1. No pre-sales

Just like the rest of America, concertgoing has turned into the haves and have-nots. If you have an American Express card, like your average teenager, you can buy early. The scalpers can’t get these cards, so they’re shut out.

Huh?

The pre-sales are all about taking money for "advertising" that goes directly to the act’s bottom line. It’s as fan-friendly as those underpriced $35 t-shirts.

One tier of ticketing is necessary to solve this problem. We’re all in it together. Isn’t that what we claimed in the sixties?

But it hasn’t been that way for eons. The acts want to be like the fat cats, but both won’t admit that without the hoi polloi, without their fans, they’re nothing.

2. Paperless

To fight paperless is to fight health care.

WHOA! I just stepped in a pile of doody.

Since people know as much about health care as they do about ticketing, let me just say the anti-paperless people are those who are scalping tickets, they’re the problem, not the solution. As for you who buy more than you need and use StubHub to resell… Screw you. Buy what you need and leave the rest for your brethren. Come on people now, smile on your brother, love one another right now.

If you can’t go to the show, you can…

Sell on TicketExchange as Mayer allows you to do. With no more than a 20% markup.

3. Getting in is a hassle

But so is going to the show. The traffic, the parking.

If you can’t deal with a wait to get inside, STAY HOME!

4. Acts are afraid of paperless

Because once you mess with the scalpers, you deal with true demand, which may be less than believed. Did that many people really want to see Kraftwerk at MOMA? No, a bunch of enterprising scalpers felt they could charge more for the tickets.

Let me not confuse you.

Miley Cyrus went out paperless after that famous tour where the mommys cried they couldn’t get their kids in and…she didn’t sell out.

And her live business hasn’t been the same since.

So, you can allow scalping and give the illusion you’re a hot ticket or…

Go paperless and find out…not that many people want to see you.

5. Acts must make fair deals

Otherwise they incentivize the promoter to cheat/scalp.

6. All-in ticketing

Do they break out the taxes in bold numbers at the pump? Do you drive past the Exxon station and see a sign for $2 gas and then pump it and find you were charged $4? If you’re not for all-in pricing, you’re scum, you’re part of the problem, not the solution. Everybody on the inside knows the fees are profit, and without promoter and venue and ticket provider profit, you’ve got no touring business. You acts refusing to go to all-in ticket pricing just want to place the blame on everyone but yourself.

We could have some light shed on this problem in America, but nobody wants it, not the acts, promoters or venues. They like things the way they are.

It’s gonna take the acts to solve the problem. They must all sign a pledge not to break the code above.

Let’s see what happens.

Give Mayer credit for making this step.

Like I said yesterday, change starts with an individual.

Frequently, that individual pays a price for opening the door for everybody else.

Let’s hope John Mayer does not pay that price.

http://johnmayer.com/tour/new-ticket-policies/

P.S. The promoters are not innocent. But change starts with the acts. They bring the people in, no one wants to go to a Live Nation show without a headliner. Acts must use their inherent leverage to right the wrongs in this business.

1. It’s a fake.

It’s in the right location, but the building is new, they tore down the theatre Stax was originally located in. History gets no respect in the U.S. We think young and new is best, and then, when the old is gone, it’s too late.

2. It was a theatre.

Jim Stewart originally set up shop in a garage. Then his sister, Estelle Axton, mortgaged her house in order to rent and refurbish the theatre.

3. They barely renovated.

The candy counter became a record store. Where Steve Cropper eventually worked and the community hung out. Today the mainstream music business has a closed door policy, keeping everybody young and new out, just like the rest of the country, where the rich leave the rest of us behind. The big music business emulates the Wall Street titans, cares more about money than music, and if you don’t know this, you don’t know them. And this will be the death of them. Because when you leave the little people out, they find a way to do it for themselves, especially today, when the tools of creation and distribution are cheap and are at people’s fingertips.

Yes, the Stax studio had the sloping floor of a movie theatre, and the high ceilings too. Sure, burlap was stapled to the walls, but very little else was done, and all the work was done by the proprietors, no contractors were involved. You don’t need the right space to make music, just a space. And like the music itself, happy accidents result in greatness. The room had a particular sound, intrinsic to the records made there, as a result.

4. Money

Jim Stewart did not complain that no big corporation, no fat cat would give him money. It’s only recently that the deep pockets of corporations have provided money for music. Now we’re retreating to the old ways, when everybody was doing it for themselves, on a hope and a dream. You can have hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment and create a stiff or just GarageBand and a great song and create a hit. If you think it takes money to make it, you know nothing.


5. Music Education

THEY ALL LEARNED IN SCHOOL! All those great Stax musicians, Booker T. Jones and Steve Cropper. As did Adele. Sure, many can learn by themselves but think of the cultural loss we endure because there’s no music in the schools.

6. Practice

They didn’t pick up their instruments at age sixteen and say they wanted to be famous. They played for years before you ever heard their music, decades. Not because they wanted to be rich and famous, but because they loved to PLAY!

7. Lifestyle

They were working all the time, Booker T. & the M.G.’s were in the studio sixteen hours a day. All this lifestyle crap, going to Vegas and the clubs, that’s a very recent thing. Those are the trappings, they’ve got nothing to do with music.

8. Rufus Thomas

Was almost fifty when he finally hit it big. Music has no age limits.

9. They were bad businessmen.

Stax lost its masters to Atlantic. The details of their subsequent deal with Clive Davis was not codified, so when he was gone, Stax floundered. The history of music is littered with bad business deals. It doesn’t have to be this way, but if you put business first, you’re probably a lousy musician.

10. It’s about relationships.

Jerry Wexler and Clive helped Stax immensely. And Packy Axton went to high school with Steve Cropper.

11. Steve Cropper

He not only played, he wrote. His name is on ""(Sittin" On) The Dock Of The Bay" and "Knock On Wood" and "In The Midnight Hour".

The greats are great for a reason. They just don’t declare they’ve arrived, they do the work.

12. David Porter

Bagged groceries across the street and begged for a job. Got one and eventually co-wrote "Soul Man", "B-A-B-Y" and "Hold On, I’m Comin’".

13. "Hold On, I’m Comin’"

Isaac Hayes was at the organ, David Porter was in the bathroom, it was late at night, they were writing a song, Isaac was impatient, he implored Porter to come back into the studio. Porter yelled out HOLD ON, I’M COMIN’!

And then Porter immediately came out of the loo with his pants around his ankles, screaming THAT’S IT!

14. The Backstory

The songs don’t write themselves, the records don’t make themselves. Near the end of the museum, just before you enter the recreated studio, there’s an endless loop of everyone testifying how the songs were written, how they came to be. Including the aforementioned "(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay" and "Hold On I’m Comin’" to "Knock On Wood" and "Soul Man" and more!

15. Respect

And just before this television monitor, there’s an old beat-up tape recorder. Just one track. Upon which was cut "Respect". The Otis Redding original. I stared and tingled.

P.S. Race

They felt no color lines. Ironically, they hung out a lot at the Lorraine Motel, where the races could mix comfortably. But after Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot there, the atmosphere was never the same, racial tension escalated, it hurt the sense of musical collaboration and freedom in Memphis.