Re: DJ Cassidy

When Cassidy was in high school , I was at his Dad’s house (Jon Podell), at the time a great booking agent (CSNY) and many other huge artists. Jon sent me in to  try and tell Cassidy to put aside his passion to be a DJ and stay in school. Cassidy told  me basically to f*ck off. Yesterday I realize he became a star to spite of his Dad and me.

I take great pride in his success .

Ron Stone

(Note: Zillions of people e-mailed to tell me DJ Cassidy was Jonny Podell’s son, and almost all of them told me to KEEP IT OFF THE RECORD!, which I find hysterical, since it’s public knowledge. But that’s the music business, if you’re not in it, you don’t know it, because nobody talks. Having said that, those who stand up and speak their truth on the record are the ones who win.)

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Re: DJ Cassidy

I’ve done a bunch of events with Cassidy… he’s an absolute professional, and a curating party machine!!! We produced a few pass the mics for streaming fundraisers during the pandemic and raised a lot of $ for people hurting.  He’s a good dude and a monster DJ!

Kerry Brown
Owner Licorice Pizza Records & RLS

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DJ Cassidy has been making his bones for 20 years or so. He often opened the years of JAYZ shows I ran and was professional and a step above the rest. He read the crowd and was grateful to be up there.

We have hope and much to look forward to. Music is hope.

Cheers

Bobby Schneider

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From: HARVEY B. LISBERG

Subject: 10cc

Hi bob glad that you and many fans felt the benefit of seeing 10cc again  . Just to clarify the move to mercury  which one of your readers  queriedI was purely because they were a subsidiary of phonogram whose offer was one of the highest in advance and royalty rates at the time no 4%of nothing any more ! 

Regards Harvey 

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Subject: Re: Self-Promotion

Well Bob 

I wrote a song ‘Zo Zomer’, a dutch song about the summer. 

Than i released the song, choose a name- John de Koning- and it gotten played on the radio. And therefore it jumped on the Sterren Top 25, an hitlist that focus on dutch songs. On #22

Suddenly i was asked for promotion and photo’s, but the singer of the song was not available. 

So I decided that John was not available for promotions on the radio. Other artists are killing for a promotion slot on the radio. 

Meanwhile the radio got some good feedback from the listeners. 

And suddenly the media were writing about the song. Good or bad, and I was feeding them with information. But key was the unknown artists, with some funny facts (in the past he was writer of fortune cookie  texts) and a strong song (according to some radio dj’s). The song went to #12. 

After a podcast about the music industry (De Machine) cover the whatabouts of the song, all the serious main media jumped on the song. 

The song went to #5

Other radio stations played the song, on tv there were coverage about this ‘Song of the summer’ and it went to a real hype. 

‘Zo Zomer’ was on top of Spotify Viral 50 NL, and -still- Spotify Vital Hits

And 

The song went to #3! 

All with no budget, expect hiring a great plugger: Paul Jong! 

There is still little information about the artist, and there is still 1 photo of him.

What a great adventure! 

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Subject: Re: Re-Greg Kihn

Hi Bob,

Lots of mentions here about Beserkley label-mates The Rubinoos. A couple of weeks ago it was a thrill to present them at the small venue that I book, Hank Dietle’s Tavern–their first time in our area since 1977, and they did not disappoint. It was sold out, and I was surprised to learn that a number of attendees didn’t know their music, but wanted to check them out because, as one person said, “the cool kids were excited about it”. Our musician community was out in force, and one exclaimed, “they sing like they’re still in their twenties!” And they do. The harmonies were super, the energy in the room was really joyful. Long-time fans and new ones are still talking about it. Nights like that are why lifers in the biz like me do what we do, and fortunately for all of us The Rubinoos will be out & about again, in my opinion they are not to be missed!

As for “Pablo Picasso”…for many years now whenever I see the words Pablo Picasso, or hear them spoken, my brain adds “was never called an as*hole” in my head. Happens every time and I don’t expect this will ever stop…nor do I want it to.

Lisa V. White

Hank Dietle’s Tavern

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From: Nick Petropoulos

Subject: Re: The Last Dinner Party At The Fonda

This is a fascinating observation on the state of bands. Which proves your point on the commonplace of solo act/brand extension focus today.

“The Rest Is Entertainment on Instagram: ‘There have been just three weeks so far this decade where a band has been number one in the charts.'”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Rest Is Entertainment (@restisentertainment)

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From: Johnny Lloyd Rollins

Subject: Re: The Medium Affects The Message

Random note of how out of touch the labels are. My 17yr old son and I were recently watching Mad Men together. In season 2 there is a scene where Don Draper walks into the ocean as he contemplates his life. I immediately started to sing “return to innocence” by Enigma with the Native American vocal track. My son looked at me and was like “wtf are you singing?”. So I showed him the video and he got it and laughed. The next day we were still watching mad men and he said “that song reminded me of some other tune that everyone is using on tik tok memes with some flute part and sampled drums”.  So he tried to sing it and I reply “yeah! That’s the same band that I showed you! ENIGMA!”.  He was sooo blown away that we both were listening to the same band independently. 

How many labels right now know that Enigma is trending with the kids on tik tok????  I doubt many at all. Apparently some remix of Sadeness is trending with kids right now. Lol 

I told my son “this used to be called world music”. Today it’s just called music.

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Subject: The Country Coup

Bob,

Would love your thoughts on something that’s been bugging me.

I’m calling it “the country coup”

“The Country Coup ”

This may be my hottest and most contraversial take yet.

Post Malone, Beyoncé, Lana Del Rey, Falling In Reverse, and MGK. This is just the beginning. A plethora of stars already taking their shot at not only writing but releasing Nashville hit records. After all – Nashville does call itself music city. No need for any identifier or adjective before the word “music”.

Country is the most commercially successful the genre has ever been in its lifetime which has just surpassed its first century.

But how did we get here?

In a land where radio seems to still be claimed as king, it would appear the streaming giants have arrived and a coup is taking place.

In recent years it is my opinion that some of the strongholds of the Nashville music business have failed to understand their own expirations. Denied change. Resisted adaption and therefore ceased to survive and advance.

It’s not just labels, or radio, it’s much more than that.

A rich genre which once held its own grounds so sacred it hesitated to let outsiders in now has to deal with a hostile takeover.

While artists like Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs and Lainey Wilson brought mainstream country music to the forefront globally, the “silent majority” of country fans, led by the likes of Zach Bryan, bolstered the anti-music row attitudes that fueled the flames of the genre to new heights.

Outsiders saw an opportunity.

There was blood in the water.

Country music will be the hottest genre in the world for the next 18 months and who will be the face of it?

Post Malone.

One of the world’s uncontested, non genre confirming superstars.

Not only will he be the face. But he will do it with an album completely written and recorded in Nashville. With features of every single one of the genres hottest acts.

And he was just the Trojan Horse.

Today I saw MGK’s Spotify cover of “There’s Your Trouble” released.

I loved it.

Lana says she will release a country album.

One of metal’s biggest acts (Falling In Reverse) currently has a chart topping song with Nashville’s own favorite redeemed outlaw, Jellyroll.

It’s fantastic.

Why does country, and Nashville, continue to have these identity crisis?

The biggest artists in the world are now coming into the genre. Ruling the charts.

Let’s not forget that once upon a time already that Nashville’s darling and biggest star left the genre to put out one of the most pure pop albums of all time.

If country music were your ex is now the part where they admit “it’s not you it’s me”?

Is this thing still on?

From Nashville with love

Bradley Parker

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From: Dylan Charbeneau

Subject: Re: The United States Of Cults

Hey Bob,

I have listened to Joe Rogan (full podcasts/episodes) for years, as well as a handful of my friends and colleagues. We all agree that while we have enjoyed much of his content and guests, he has become ideologically captured and less interesting. The reasons why we think that vary, but we all have now dropped listening to him regularly and only check in once in a blue moon when there is a fascinating guest. 

From my perspective, Rogan has alienated much of his base that built him into the juggernaut podcast host he has become.

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From: Steve Lukather

Subject: Re: The Solo In Do It Again

That’s Denny on Your Gold Teeth II on Katy Lied and the song Aja as well!!

Incredible choice of notes and phrasing! NO one sounds like Denny.

One of THE most unique and original players… and a great old friend and hero as well.

Steely Dan is one of my all time fave bands!  It is desert Island music for me.

The detail and genius of their entire catalogue is peerless, including Nightfly,  Donald’s 1st solo album!

I love the later stuff too but the early stuff hit me and my muso friends hard.

Denny’s solo’s always made the music special. Glad you are giving him the credit he deserves!

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From: Gary Lang

Subject: RE: The Solo In Do It Again

I met Denny when I became one of the developers of the dBase product and language at Ashton-Tate, which was in Culver City, though us programmers were in Glendale.

 

A company called Nantucket, also in Culver City developed a compiler for the dBase language which Ashton-Tate didn’t like because after you compiled your code, it just ran on a PC without any Ashton-Tate software required to run it.

 

As a developer who used compilers every day to develop dBase itself, it made sense to me that someone did this, though I was supposed to see Nantucket as a kind of pirate company.

 

In 1986, an Ashton-Tate documentation writer, Tommy Rettig, who lived in Marina Del Rey had a party at his house and invited me to it. Tom was a friend of mine, who came to my bachelor party and who’s desk in Glendale I took when he left Ashton-Tate.

 

(BTW, he was a former child actor, who had played in the Lassie Movie, a Dr. Suess live-action film “The 5 Fingers of Doctor T” and was in “River of No Return” with Marilyn Monroe: he had a poster of himself as a kid clinging to her legs in his Marina condo.)

 

At the party were several second string Hollywood types along with a bunch of Ashton-Tate, dBase, and Nantucket developers. One of them was Denny Dias! I was super pleased to meet him.

 

It soon transpired that I was the only person in the room that  had seen him play, in May 1973 at Winterland, with the actual band Steely Dan (before they mostly used studio people). He seemed genuinely pleased to hear that someone remembered him and not the other guitar player (Jeff Baxter) at that show. I was glad to please him, especially after he said that he was the person who started the band in the first place. They were – I’m not kidding – third-billed to Humble Pie and Slade.

 

Many of my programming friends have made more money than most of the rock stars of my youth so I’m glad he was able to become one of us and make some money.

 

I’m with you – he was a _killer_ guitar player! I asked his wife on FB a few years back if he still played, and she said that indeed he did. I just met him the one time.

 

So, he’s still around, still playing guitar. I don’t know why I was so pleased to hear this, but once again, you’ve recognized a hidden gem, as you often do.

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Subject: RE: The Solo In Do It Again

Hi Bob, 

This piece really interested me because I did not know that Steely Dan originally started on the East Coast. I knew Fagen and Becker had gone to Bard College (Annandale), but were a couple years behind me. I moved out to Cali in 1969. I had an acoustic guitar– a good one– an old Gibson J-50. It had an exceptional sound, but I needed an electric. One night in the parking lot of the all night Mayfair Market on Santa Monica Blvd. I acquired an old Gibson Melody Maker for $15. Why was it so cheap? Two reasons: 1) probably hot, and 2) on closer inspection, I noticed that the neck had been broken and reset improperly. I instinctively knew this guitar could be resurrected. I took it to Valley Sound on Sunset. It’s rep was that it had the best repair dept. in LA. And there I met my old bandmate from Boston, Jeff “Skunk” Baxter. He was an excellent lead guitarist, but he was also great at repairing and modifying instruments. This was about 1972. We hadn’t seen each other in a few years, so we chatted and caught up. He checked out my Melody Maker and told me he could make it like new, which he did. What must’ve been about two weeks later Skunk called me up and said he’d been playing with a bunch of studio cats over at Dunhill (which had it’s own state of the art studio), and would I be interested in auditioning with them as lead singer. I asked if there was anything on tape I could listen to. I went over to his apartment, which was furnished in amps and myriad guitars, including a pedal steel, which had become his new momentary passion. So he played me this one tape they had recorded called “Bye Bye Dallas.” It was good and well-recorded, but, with Jeff’s pedal steel, it sounded kind of country-ish. Definitely not my thing. Fagen was singing on it, and I think Walter Becker and Denny Diaz were singing harmonies. But the impression I got was that this was a brand new band that was just starting up. Fagen did not want to sing lead live, so they needed to recruit a front man, which is what I had been in the final permutation of Ultimate Spinach with Jeff, back in Boston. I complimented the music, but said it wasn’t my thing. Besides, I was primarily a songwriter, and didn’t think much of my singing. So I passed on the audition. A short time later, I was invited to their debut club performance at Under the Ice House in Pasadena. I was very impressed, especially by the songs. Why didn’t Jeff play me “Dirty Work” or “Reelin’ in the Years”? Later, I found out that most of the lead guitar work on their albums was done by an array of studio cats. Not Skunk. And “Bye Bye Dallas” was not on the set list. I thought I had witnessed their very first gig, but your story casts doubt on this. Wow, all these years later…

Anyway, that’s my Steely Dan story and I’m stickin’ to it.

Fond regards as always,

Ted Myers

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From: Dannielle De Andrea

Subject: Re: Production

I know you get inundated!

BUT this little story on the ABC in Australia is worth the watch!

 

It’s on the phenomena of

Mr Beast and YouTube!

Incredible what he has created

“How Mr. Beast Hacked The Algorithm”: 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by ABC iview (@abciview)

Have a great day.

Thank  you for your emails

Cheers and chocolate

Dannielle

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From: Steve Lukather

Subject: Re: The Nicky Hopkins Movie

Nicky is a legend !

As one who knows… when someone gives you a bunch of letters on a piece of paper…. often not even legit music paper, NO rehearsals- no demos, just show up ands say ‘ what are we doing today?’ …the artists and producers that hire you expect a lot!

This is what most people don’t know is that they THINK the music us session guys did was all just ‘read the notes on the paper.’

Nope.

Had to read music once in awhile but.. 98% was as I stated above. ‘Make up your own parts and they better be GOOD.’!

That’s how ya got called back time and time again.

Nicky delivered EVERY time!

Dig the piano intro on She’s a Rainbow!  Pretty sure Mick and Keith didn’t write that out in legit music notation note for note for him! That was him.

The list of songs HE made better is vast.

I got to work with him once and fan- boyed out and asked a ton of questions and he smiled and was very humble.

It was an honor for me.

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Subject: Re: The Nicky Hopkins Movie

We had an album with Nicky on Columbia. Great guy. We went shopping for Stones bootlegs that were recorded on his side of the stage so he could hear himself play.

I figured out how to cram a full upright piano into KMET’s tiny elevator and into their equally tiny studios.

Nicky played live on Steven Clean’s show. Aside from artists bringing their acoustic guitars no one had ever done anything like this with a huge real piano. Steven loved it so much he had Nicky stay for his entire shift and had him play ins and outs to commercial breaks just like the bands on late night TV.

Brilliant radio. Fantastic player.

Paul Rappaport

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Subject: Re: Reach

Hi Bob,

I used to manage most of the UK’s call-out research and recently put together some numbers for comparison. Let’s consider the BBC Radio 1 morning show in the old economy: one play on the show and another 12 plays on rotation in the same week would typically reach around 15 million + listeners.  Even though these listeners were often passive, the likelihood of converting this reach into significant sales was very high. Just a few plays on Radio 1 could empty the shelves within a week. A 6-week rotation could generate 80-90% familiarity with the station’s audience.

Now, let’s compare this with the new economy. How can you reach 15 million listeners in a week today? Achieving this in the UK alone is challenging. Even if you’re featured on several massive Spotify playlists, the numbers don’t stack up the same way. For instance, being on a playlist with 1 million followers, positioned between spots 20 and 30, might result in about 25,000 passive listens per week. This is the closest equivalent to an old economy radio play.

To reach 15 million people globally, you would need approximately 600 playlists, each with 1 million followers. For perspective, Taylor Swift reaches 893 million people through playlists. To reach 15 million people in the UK in any given week, she would need a global playlist reach of 6 billion, assuming a 10% UK audience share.

(There are some considerations like playlist overlap, engagement rates and playlist positions that impact these calculations of course)

Best,

Peter Ruppert

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Subject: Re: The Stones At SoFi

Hey Bob!

Loved your review of the Stones show at SoFi. What a crazy stadium. You enter and exit at the top of the building (kinda like part of Dodger Stadium) and go down to the sub basement to the stadium “floor.”

The real reason I’m writing is to tell you about a cool part of my childhood. My father’s Aunts and Uncle owned the “Memory Motel” during it’s heyday as a Stones hangout in the 1970s. I was there quite often with my folks, though I never ran into Mick and Keith. I also was too young to appreciate that there were Rock and Roll icons hanging out at the bar during the summer. I would sit at the bar myself, Uncle Paul would pour me a coke, and Aunt Esther or Aunt Sara would fix me a sandwich. They sold the place in the 1990s, after Esther and Paul died, and Sara decided to finish her life in Florida. They never tried to make a dime off their relationship with Mick and Keith, nor did they ever think to try.

One of my favorite “Memories” of the Stones’ relationship to the motel is when Aunt Esther was interviewed on the radio, sometime around 1978. Living on Long Island, It was hard for us to tune in the interview, which was being done on WRNW in Westchester, New York. We huddled around the stereo as she was interviewed by a young DJ named Howard Stern (yes – him!). Oh how I wish I was able to tape the interview! I wonder if Howard thinks about it (or even remembers it!) when he thinks of the Stones.

(Just a Memory… that used to mean so much to me…)

Mark Pokedoff

Warrington, Pa.

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Subject: Re: Songs / Davina Michelle

Dear Bob,

Hope all is well in the heat over there. I manage Davina Michelle, thanks for your kind words!

If you have a minute or two, please check out the showreel we did on everything she’s done so far: https://youtu.be/L2hk7a2kibc

We’ve been slowly working the international market supporting acts such as P!nk, Robbie Williams and Maroon5, and mainly pushing for radio in Germany.

She’s a great writer and an incredible live artist, check out a full show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMwUQIflgII&t=2303s (last month’s Pinkpop Festival, check Skyward and Liar) and her Eurovision intermission performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QiftAFZoZM

She’s had over 20 top 5 airplay songs in The Netherlands, received numerous awards, etc.

We’re releasing a new album in September which will feature some of the songs you can find in this Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4LFVkIo6DJmkDGrMOG4XUX?si=11e051be84b84bf2 As you say, developing artists is a craft that’s starting to disappear, but if you have any suggestions for labels or A&Rs, I’d be happy to hear them!

Thanks again, stay cool!

Best regards,

Martijn Swier

Endless Music

The Netherlands

www.ndlss.com

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From: Ben Webster

Subject: Re: Self-Promotion

H Bob,

As the old saying goes, “Self praise is no endorsement”.

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From: Steve Gerardi

Subject: Re: Self-Promotion

Love this!

Once again you nail it!

I am constantly hit up by local / regional bands telling how they draw HUGE crowds and that I should book them.

I always think to myself if this band drew one quarter of the crowd, they claim their actual crowds would be twice the size that they are!

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From: Mitchell Fox

Subject: Re: Self-Promotion

…an old road dog once said…

“…If you gotta tell me you are…you ain’t.”

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Subject: Re: Blue Lights

Bob 

I grew up in Ireland in the 60s and 70s and occasionally would venture up to Belfast and Derry with some very political bands like Moving Hearts and. Clannad and also with a songwriter called Phil Coulter who wrote many great hits like Congratulations and My boy for Elvis .

Blue Lights captures exactly like you say and is so well cast and acted and I’ve heard loved by all the people in Northern Ireland .

The Catholic minority was in deep jeopardy always as the majority of the Loyalists who are not unlike the Maga crowd but also majority of Peelers were of Protestant background .

A lot of tension always and this fabulous show explains how deeply divided the communities were but are on the other side of peace now but still a lot of trust issues .

I was fortunate enough to do a New Year’s Eve gig in 1998 at the Ulster Hall..(where Stairway to heaven was performed first in the middle of the troubles in 1971) with a great Irish band called the Sawdoctors whose songs are all about loneliness and hope and lost loves, it was a few months  after the Good Friday agreement had been signed.

I do remember at the strike of midnight standing shaking hands with a RUC policeman and he had tears in his eyes as he could see, and he told me so \, an end to the fighting because of the bravery of both communities and some great American and European diplomats meeting in secret… As the band played on we had a great conversation…

Blue Lights shows how thin a line it is still and how difficult it is to police and how decent people will prevail to have a better life .

So happy you wrote about this show as a lot of other countries and ourselves here in Anerica could learn that peace only comes with both sides sitting down and a lot of honesty and admittances of wrongdoings .

Great words Bob and worth every penny to subscribe to Brit Box .. try and watch Extras .. house of cards uk version and Life on mars 

Tom Kenny

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Subject: Re: Mountain Queen-The Summits Of Lhakpa Sherpa

Bob,

Thanks for the heads up on Mountain Queen. I will check it out.

I too am into mountaineering having successfully summited Grand Teton and Rainier. Demanding but lots of fun. Rainier almost did me in….huge slog.

Into Thin Air was mesmerizing. I couldn’t put it down.

Hope all is well with you.

Best Regards,

Bill Powell

Circus Ring Of Fame Foundation

www.circusringoffame.org

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From: John Brodey

Re: The Pool

Wow, what an interesting parallel. I don’t know if it is age but, like you I did my share of snorkeling in the Caribbean and even the Great Barrier Reef (a wild ride for all time). But I’ve never been that comfortable in the water and my anxiety has increased in certain situations.

Last summer my siblings/spouses chartered a Turkish sailing ship called a gullah. Heavy and wide and very nice. 8 cabins, four meals a day and just us. Naturally the water is amazing and I love it. We were anchored in one little cove and everyone was overboard swimming to shore as did I. Most people made their way back after a while and I was the last. Now a good head wind was blowing onshore and the waves were choppy.

If there was a dingy going back to the boat I would have taken it. I start making my way and I start getting a lot of water in the face. Gradually, I get close maybe 20 feet away and all of a sudden I can’t breathe. I start to freak and that really does it. My head is barely above water and I can see myself dying. There are people on deck, I start waving an arm but not in a ‘hi everybody I’m here’ way but in a more dramatic one. Cristie sees me and dives in and one of the crew was in the dingy fortunately. Another crewman jumped into the boat. They got to me just in time and hauled my ass into the boat.

In explaining what happened to me, one of the crew said; You were in the process of drowning. I responded and said but I hadn’t taken in any water. The answer is what they call dry drowning. Your trachea closes by instinct, since there’s water and you’re gasping for air. So, people can drown without their lungs having filled with water. Suffocation isn’t fun.

Weird, not sure if I’ll have another encounter somewhere in the Med., but the conditions will have to be perfect. Glad you made it back in the water. High five.

Mr. Collective Soul.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ed-roland/id1316200737?i=1000666227223

 

 

 

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/698445c7-e258-4c73-ba5a-25a173d71227/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-ed-roland

https://shorturl.at/cZW5N

This book is confusing, and for that reason I’m loath to recommend it.

But it really resonated with me, there were some universal truths that stuck out, like:

“To get to the destination your inner compass has been driving you back to, screaming it was home, only to discover that you don’t really belong.”

Things change. But not in your mind. History is set in stone. And you think if you just went back to that location, hooked up with your old love, it would work and…

Too much time has gone by. You’ve changed and they’ve changed. No matter how much you will yourself, it doesn’t work.

So, what we’ve got here is two parallel narratives that ultimately connect.

First we’ve got Anita de Monte and her husband Jack Martin. Martin is a famous minimalist. de Monte is a fiery artist. And the result is a tempestuous relationship.

The book starts with a party. Jack enters and seeks attention, that’s his style, and then Anita dances and…she goes out the window? At the party? She was drunk?

It clears up, but you have to keep reading. And then you’re still not sure what happened until you are.

So therefore, if you need to know exactly what is happening at all times, this book is not for you.

The other half of the story is about art history students at Brown.

Art history is the laughingstock of college majors these days. Even though we all live for art. It’s the books, the movies, the TV shows, the paintings that get us through. But art is hard to quantify. You can’t give an objective test. Opinion is crucial. Better to major in science or math where it’s either black or white, right or wrong, and there’s a clear path to a career.

But that is not an element in this book. Furthermore, the art history majors believe they’ve got a future in the field.

So Raquel is a woman of color from NYC. Her mother works at the Met, but it’s in food service, not as a curator. And Raquel is smart and ends up with a scholarship to Brown and…is angry that everybody believes she’s an affirmative action admission, even though she’s got the grades. In a world where not only is everybody white, but many are from the prep school world, and rich. Does she fit in?

Raquel’s friend Denise got a full ride at Notre Dame, but passed that up for a state school, SUNY Buffalo. Turns out Denise was not eager to go where she was one of the very few minorities, she didn’t want to feel like a fish out of water. As for Raquel, does being at Brown change her, forever?

Now Raquel’s story goes deeper into art history, and school. The professor…is he coming on to her or not? Is he an object of respect or scorn?

And then there’s the sh*t talking about academics who have different viewpoints.

Sounds like an insular world, I know. But Jack is a big swinging dick in the art world, and that’s all he needs, the respect of these people. Art at that level of success is a rarefied air, with sometimes billions of dollars involved. Just because everybody doesn’t know your name, that does not mean you’re not a big name where it counts.

And the question arises whether Jack is past his prime. This is a thorn in the side of elite artists. You’re famous for one thing, but if you don’t change, and grow, you lose status. Braque was right up there with Picasso at the advent of cubism. But Picasso evolved and Braque didn’t, and other than students of the game, most people have no idea who Braque was. The recently deceased Frank Stella burst on the scene at a young age with his protractor series. He moved on, but nothing he did thereafter titillated the critics to the same degree.

Once again, this is fine art. This isn’t drawings for TV. It’s not only what you see…then again, is it? The conception is almost as important as the execution. Which many people who go to the museum don’t understand. They look at the old masters and can see all the talent on the canvas and then they might even look at a Stella and not get it, after all, Stella couldn’t even draw.

So, once again, there’s little concentration on art history studies in the news, other than denigration. But Raquel is dedicated and…

A lot of questions arise. And a lot learning how the world truly works. Relationships. There’s an elite level of communication that most people in America still don’t understand, even though they think they do. You can view the houses on “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,” watch MTV “Cribs,” yet not even know that many of the truly rich don’t want the publicity, they’re unknown to the masses, and have much more money than those flaunting it. Furthermore, how did they get there?

You can go to Yale, be exposed to it all and still graduate and remain broke.

In other words, you have to work it. Kind of like Hollywood, but in most verticals there are barriers to entry. The elite education, access to vast sums of money… That’s why you go to the Ivys, for the people you meet more than what you learn. Chances are, the classes are just as good at the state school.

“I already knew how important it is for an artist to protect their time; time, that critical thing required to think and ponder and question and perfect.”

This is what non-artists don’t understand. They go to work from nine to five, or nine to nine, or even nine to midnight and they can quantify what they’ve done whereas an artist…might have read, might have gone for a walk… An artist’s mind needs to percolate, unfiltered.

Which is why I’m always amazed at these partnerships where two people have an office with desks shoved up against each other. How can they get anything done? To create art you need silence, you need to be alone. You need to think. You’ve got to get in the zone, you can’t be interrupted. And non-artists have a hard time understanding this.

Once again, I’m talking about art, not commerce. There’s a ton of money in making records, painting, selling stuff…but does it change the culture, does it make people think? Sure, ideas come to you spontaneously, but usually you need to get into the right headspace.

And then there’s this:

“Art is, if nothing else, always about the next thing.”

This is what I was writing about the other day. You have to keep on moving forward, that’s what an artist does. And that’s ultimately what the audience demands. But it’s so challenging, it’s easier to repeat yourself. Also, what outsiders don’t understand is the high of success doesn’t last very long. An award? Maybe a day or two, not even a week. You have to get back to the work.

“Or maybe I’d go to a party and get drunk and cause an argument just to feel like I’d made a dent in someone else’s existence.”

Most artists are not easygoing, they’re not well adjusted and they need to know they’re alive and have you recognize it. So when you go to a party and encounter that edgy artist that makes a scene… Or even when you ask for an autograph or selfie… Once again, it’s about time. But also, the artist knows the experience is hollow, ultimately worthless. It might be about building or maintaining your brand, but do you think Van Morrison thinks about that? Many of the performers who are constantly thanking their fans are not artists, they’re ultimately business people, very successful financially, but not artists.

So most people don’t care about the art history field.

And other than the artists themselves, and some gallerists, there’s not a ton of money in the art world. There are a few jobs running museums, but they don’t pay the kind of money you make in Silicon Valley, never mind Wall Street. You’ve got to love it, you consider it meaningful.

I was an art history major. And what it created in me was a sensibility.

Also, I went to a college where forty five percent of the people went to prep school, and many of them came from rich families, VERY rich. One of the things I learned most at Middlebury was how to interact with these people. I came from the melting pot suburbs. Everybody verbal, throwing sharp elbows to get ahead. Meanwhile, so many of the prepsters were mellow, took it all in stride, it was a completely different attitude. And if you wanted to befriend them, you had to adjust your behavior.

I recently went to my college reunion, and two months later I’m still not over this experience. These students were satisfied. They might not be household names, but they’re pillars of their community, they feel accomplished. Me, not only am I still trying to work it out, I’m still not sure I’m worthy.

In their world.

And Raquel is always asking herself this question.

As for Anita? Can a woman from Cuba be respected for her art? Just by being married to a famous artist is her work pooh-poohed, and does her husband want to hold her back?

And there are many ways to hold someone back, you can read about them in the book.

But I read “Anita de Monte Laughs Last” because the reviews said she did, last laugh, that is. And she kind of does. And that’s obvious from the very beginning.

But how does that happen? What happens between the covers?

As much as “Anita de Monte Laughs Last” is set in the modern world, it’s also one step removed. Because art always is. And if you think raw quality will get you to the top…you just haven’t met enough of the people who decide whether you make it to the top.

So I don’t think this book is for everyone. But it made me think. I could relate. It created a whole world separate from my everyday existence, and I liked that.

So…maybe you’re intrigued.

Or not.

Whose idea was this?

My research has not yielded the backstory, but that’s the star of the evening. It’s always about the idea more than the execution, and this one was brilliant, because it has an afterlife.

Jimmy Kimmel told me it was not about the show, but creating viral moments that live online. That’s the ticket.

And that’s the world we live in, one in which we all consume different items at different times, and if you criticize me for being late I can point to a ton of stuff you were unaware of.

I saw the DJ on the flat screen last night. I had no idea what he was doing, I was just passing by on my way out the door. I can’t listen to these people rant and rave forever. Life’s too short, I can find the highlights later online.

And that’s what I did. I sampled all the videos served up to me, in bite-sized fashion.

Keep it brief. That’s the mantra of virality. Or, keep it really long, if it’s unique and great. It’s either hit and run or pure dedication. There is no such thing as a short attention span, that’s a canard cooked up by traditional media to explain why younger generations are not glued to their content. The oldsters grew up in an era where there was little. But when there is much, you keep clicking next until you find what you want, and then you go deep. Which is why you find kids who weren’t even alive when “Friends” went off the air bingeing that series. 

Bingeing is an immersive process that the aged still don’t get. They think that the drip of every week keeps viewers coming back, keeps them subscribing. What they don’t understand is bingeing is not only about content, but mood. We want to be taken away to a special place, where the real world doesn’t exist. And this depends on high quality, which most can’t achieve, so they berate the system.

For all the b.s. about endless smartphone use, the truth is we’re dying to disconnect, it’s just what we disconnect for must be better than what’s on the phone.

Let’s take dating. How many nights did you waste in a bar or a club just hoping to meet someone. It was endless and depressing. And despite all the present blowback about internet dating, it’s a much more efficient use of one’s time.

Which is why I don’t watch the convention live. I don’t want to find out after the fact that it was a waste when I can cherry-pick content later or avoid it entirely.

So I’m on the cesspool known as X right after I wake up and…

Yes, I’m like those zombies in “Dawn of the Dead,” who go to the mall, because that’s their instinct. I love instant news, you can’t get it anywhere else. But in truth X is a cesspool unless you’re a virgin bro or a dyed-in-the-wool Trumper or both. It’s so frustrating.

But Meghan McCain said:

“I’m sorry but this #DNC2024 roll call with DJ Cassidy, themed state music and party/club atmosphere is blowing the RNC’s roll call out of the water. It looks like a giant party and celebration and everyone in that room looks like they’re having a blast.”

Then I knew something happened. Although more reasonable than many, McCain is a dedicated Republican, for her to put them down…

You know you’re on the losing team when your own members criticize you. This is exactly what was happening with Biden before he stepped down. There was all this public agitation from those in power. And if Biden refused to listen for weeks, what are the odds that Trump will change course? So far, nil.

So reading McCain’s tweet made me aware of the fact that something happened.

And it wasn’t long before I came across another reference, maybe in X, maybe in Apple News+, I was intrigued.

And then I found the playlist. The Spotify playlist.

BINGO!

You want to go back to the pre-internet era when people had to buy an overpriced CD to hear one good track? The ability to stick all these cuts together, instantly…allowed every news outlet to write about it and draw people to it, get them to listen.

And that’s the power of music.

Playlist – “DNC roll call”: https://shorturl.at/rRbGc

Click, you can’t help but check out the picks.

The obvious ones, with the names of the states in the title, the other references. This is how you get people to listen, THEY’RE INTRIGUED!

I don’t care if you’re a Democrat, Republican or Independent, you’re interested in the choices. And if you rain on the parade, nitpick… You’re a hater. No one likes a party pooper, NO ONE!

And the music covered all bases, unlike the Spotify Top 50. There were songs both old and new, it was a celebration.

So how can you do this?

Well, virality can’t be your sole motivation, that almost never works. Your idea must work on the surface. And if it’s cool enough, interesting enough…people will spread the word.

This is creativity, this is art, this is what’s missing in today’s music business, especially at the major labels. You can sell anything if it’s good and marketed well. But thinking outside the box? That’s anathema.

Everybody wants to go viral, but how do you do this?

Once again, you can pour a ton of cash on execution, but it really comes down to the idea. Is it unique enough to draw attention without looking like you’re doing it solely to draw attention?

And what will be the lifespan of this viral moment? Could be only two days.

That’s what old marketers don’t understand. That it’s nearly impossible to get noticed, but when you do, it doesn’t last, especially if it’s something universal. If you start from nowhere, with an act or event that few know about, it can grow over time. But if everybody is aware of the underlying cause, whether it be the convention or a concert or…virality lasts a very short time.

That’s what we’re waiting to see with Kamalamania. Will it last all the way to November, Election Day?

WE DON’T KNOW! We’ve never been in this situation before!

That’s how it used to be with music. We were surprised constantly. And in tech fifteen and twenty years ago there was a new app, a new platform, constantly, but those days of excitement are through. Apple stopped making the iPod, a huge hit that reached the end of its lifespan and then KAPUT!

So if you’re a band…

You can go on the road and do the same thing every night and wonder why you don’t get any traction outside the building or…

You can make it different every night. Instead of synching to hard drive, you can do something human, unique.

And the studio version… Rework your songs ad infinitum. The days of the pristine track are done. You need to cut it more quickly, to preserve the life. And then you can have alternate takes, acoustic versions, live versions, stems distributed to the fans… You want to enable virality, not shut it down.

It’s the public that made DJ Cassidy and this playlist go viral. It was spontaneous. In the old days, it would all be premeditated, there’d be a PR person who’d spread the word to major media outlets and a concentrated campaign to spread the news. Now each individual is a media outlet, if they see something amazing they tell everybody about it.

And it’s not only the playlist, which evidences its own creativity… Who is this DJ Cassidy guy? You WANT to Google him!

And the overall effect is to burnish the Democratic party and its convention and candidate. It all boils down to cool. And people want to be on the cool team. And in many cases, that’s more of a driver than the issues, which most people don’t understand, other than abortion.

Sure, the Republicans have Kid Rock, but not a whole hell of a lot more. That looks like a cult. Whereas all the performers of different stripes and colors at the Democratic convention…looks like the big tent the Democrats always say they are.

People want to belong. As a matter of fact, that’s what has solidified the MAGA cult. It’s them versus us. It’s about team sports. And so far, the Democrats haven’t found a way to counter this.

But now they have. They threw out the old for the new, not only getting rid of Biden but creating a viral moment with DJ Cassidy.

What other tricks do they have up their sleeve?

I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE!