You have to sign more acts in more genres and stay with them for many years.

That is the only way for the major labels to maintain market share.

They just aren’t making enough bets. They’re still mired in MTV thinking. I.e. there are a handful of universal hits and you want to control them.

No, there are more hits in more genres than ever before and if you’re just skimming from the top, you’re missing out on the moonshots.

In other words, you have to forgo the data and look at the music.

And it hasn’t been this way for a very long time.

The model is clearly established. Warner/Reprise of the sixties and seventies. The labels themselves had gravitas. Nothing was thrown against the wall. There was a reason every act was signed, and the label stood behind them for years, usually five albums. Did all of them break through? Of course not, but a good number of them were profitable, and it was nearly impossible to predict which ones would blow up.

Contrary to popular belief, most VC funded projects do not fail. They just do not return at 10x, never mind 1000x. 2x and 3x are still winners, but not enough to drive the entire business. Which is the same at a record label, you don’t expect everything to be giant, but hopefully most stuff doesn’t fail.

VCs invest in new ideas. They look to the future. They go where no one else has. To own a vertical.

I get why majors want hits, because in the streaming era those are the records that pay. But so many of those acts have no career, they can’t tour and they don’t last. And therefore you make money once and then…

Never mind opportunity cost. If you’re investing in the next me-too record, you can’t invest in what is great thereafter.

The biggest music business story of the past few years is Zach Bryan. NO ONE would have predicted that he would sell out stadiums so soon. Bryan was not selling what anybody else was, nothing in the Spotify Top 50 sounded like Bryan, so when you heard his music it stood out. Furthermore, like Warner/Reprise of yore, Bryan is credible. Won’t do anything for a buck. It’s all about the music and the relationship between the fan and the act.

Now the music business blew up in the sixties because of FM radio. Owners could no longer simulcast on FM what they were airing on AM. This gave a window to all sorts of alternatives, from Cream to Wild Man Fischer.

What has the internet wrought?

Streaming. Anybody can play.

And that’s very important to acknowledge.

The paradigm of yore was to spend a ton of money getting it right, because if you did cash rained down. Now you can’t spend that much. Furthermore, costs are down. So the script has flipped to capturing lightning in a bottle. To have many writers and remixers is to miss the point. That’s an old paradigm.

As for streaming itself, it pays handsomely to the victors, but the profits don’t come close to those of the CD era, when product was expensive and royalties were low.

Furthermore, marketing costs have decreased. You can reach the public for free. And the old ways of marketing deliver de minimis results. Print means almost nothing, as does TV. Terrestrial radio means more, but far less than it used to, and not only is it decreasing in mindshare, the young, impressionable audience does not listen to it. (To argue with me here is to miss the point, if you’re defending the past, you’re dying, you just don’t know yet.)

Used to be A&R people found acts with value and invested in making the record.

But then the script flipped to the Doug Morris model. Throw everything against the wall and see if it sticks. I.e. get it on the radio and see if it sells.

That’s history too.

Everything grows from the bottom up these days, just like in the late sixties. Word of mouth is everything. The public is hungry for quality product.

But all we get is Sabrina Carpenter.

If I read one more rave review about her new album…

This is pop music from a Disney character. The hard core audience that sustains this business is not interested in her whatsoever. What you’ve got here is a famous name blown up by the machine. Sure, she might have a hit, but does anybody BELIEVE in Sabrina Carpenter? Only the brain dead.

And there’s a business in brain dead. But Warner/Reprise rarely invested in it. Because it was all about timing, knowing when to invest and when to fold in a very short period of time.

Look at it this way… Do you know of any Top Forty acts from the sixties and seventies selling out stadiums?

Well, the Eagles have no problem, and they’re not the only ones.

Never mind seemingly every rocker of the eighties, from Def Leppard to Green Day to Motley Crue.

But what have we got in the Spotify Top 50? Brands. With the focus on the external. Where they’ve been, what they’re selling, the music is just a vehicle to make bank. Furthermore, everybody sells out, and as soon as you sell out you’ve lost credibility. Sure, social media influencers sell out, but that’s a different business. Instead of owning its uniqueness, music is trying to be a commodity like everything else, to its detriment.

And sure, Taylor Swift is selling out stadiums, but this is not equivalent to the British Invasion, where the Beatles were followed by the Stones, the Hollies, Herman’s Hermits, Gerry and the Pacemakers, the Dave Clark 5, the list is endless.

Actually, Hannah Gadsby had it right in yesterday’s “New York Times.” She called Taylor Swift “‘a can of Coke masquerading as a sorority cult.'”

Genius, and accurate.

But you can’t say anything negative about Swift, then you’re a hater.

But come on, all this hoopla, is it really about Swift’s music?

Swift hasn’t made anything that goes straight to the heart since her first two albums written with Liz Rose. Working with the producer du jour and selling multiple versions of vinyl to remain number one? That’s commerce, not art.

And other than the money… Does anybody who made their bones in this business in the sixties, seventies or eighties care?

No.

Not to mention that even Swift made it in a different era. Sans the success in country, there’s no success in pop.

And this isn’t to rain on Swift’s parade, but to illustrate how broad the marketplace is, how much opportunity there is elsewhere.

We don’t even have a reasonable Swift imitator, because it’s a dead end. There’s no movement here. But all the news is dominated by her.

Yeah, she wrote a song about me, after I wrote how her appearance on the Grammys would kill her career. But I was wrong. I was playing by the old rules, the new rules are your dedicated fans will keep you alive no matter what, as long as you are serving them. But how many people are dedicated fans? How many people can even sing two Swift songs? Phish sells out arenas, and they’re far from ubiquitous.

The whole business needs a rethink. But the three heads of the major labels are out of touch. At Universal and Sony we’ve got men stuck in the eighties and nineties. It’s all about worldwide hits. But that’s no longer the game. As for Warner… You’ve got a guy who knows nothing about music lording it over those who do.

The math in music comes AFTER the success, not before. You can count streams, but if you’re all about the data going in, then you’re not about the music.

Opportunity is rampant for indies. Now is the time to make the music you want to, that doesn’t fit in the Spotify Top 50 pigeonhole. The public is hungry for the new, the different and the credible.

You only have to look at the movie business for example. By playing it safe, releasing less product in specific genres, the movie business has become decimated. You’re not going to get a “Squid Game” in the movie business. You’ll get that on streaming because Netflix realizes we all have different tastes.

I mean who even wants to listen to the Spotify Top 50?

Twenty acts for ten years. Who is willing to take that plunge? NOBODY!

But that’s the way it used to be, that’s what built this business into the juggernaut it is. But instead, the majors are wearing blinders.

There will be change. We can’t go for this long with the old genres continuing to dominate.

Also, nobody with brains wants to be a musician, the odds are long and the pay ain’t great. You can make more at a bank, in many jobs. So we don’t get the best and the brightest.

But if we show the POWER of music… Everybody wants power. To influence the culture. Used to be the acts were bigger than the politicians, but no more. But they can be again.

All bets are off. We’re open to all comers. My girlfriend talked about buying one meat ball at Whole Foods today. She was referencing the Ry Cooder cover of the Singer/Zaret song on his first album. This is culture. I know this song by heart. Took years for Ry Cooder to break through. But he’s still got a career. Yesterday’s flavor of the moment? HISTORY!

P.S. Hannah Gadsby was about to give up and then she threw the long ball and did a special that included art history, that people weren’t even sure was comedy, and now she’s a cultural icon. And instead of boasting, she’s expressing anxiety about her career. And talking about ecology with throwaway toys. This is what the majors used to sell, not anymore.

“‘Hannah Gadsby: Woof’ Review: A Comic’s Pet Themes – In a soul-baring new show at the Edinburgh Fringe, the Australian stand-up leans once again into fears, anxieties and mental health worries.”

Free link: https://rb.gy/yyrj6q

The ones you love but rarely listen to.

Tune in Saturday August 24th to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West.

Phone #: 844-686-5863

X/Twitter: @lefsetz

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

Be afraid Donald, be very afraid.

This election is all about perception, and the media keeps talking about the issues.

The most important article you will read this week is in the “New Yorker”:

“Among America’s ‘Low-Information’ Voters”:

https://apple.news/AvKdeIufhTTyhvRt-PvK60g

I hear from these people every day. You’re never going to change their opinion. If you quote the “Times,” they’ll point to Facebook. They’re not budging from their support of Trump and…

We’ve got the Pro-Palestinian contingent. Weren’t they supposed to disrupt the convention, turn it into another ’68? Well, it turns out the noise made by a few was larger than the feelings of the many. We live in a myopic country, most people can’t find Gaza on a map, they might hate the Jews but that has got nothing to do with this election.

It’s old versus new, baby. The known versus the unknown. Depression versus joy. A potentially bright future compared to a return to a bleak past. The world only moves forward, do you want to go back?

Really, no one does, but they’re afraid of the future, the unknown, they need someone to hold their hand and make them feel like it’s going to be all right.

And that’s what Kamala Harris did last night. Actually, she equivocated on Gaza, saying the Israelis deserved support but too many people are being killed in Gaza, but how many people were really listening to that anyway?

And you’ll hear all the naysayers, on both sides of the political fence, saying they still need to hear more about the issues, that that’s what this election depends upon… NO IT DOESN’T!

If you weren’t already in the bag for Kamala, what you saw last night was an intelligent woman with all her faculties, a competent woman, a younger woman, saying she’s on the case.

Come on, most of what these candidates promise doesn’t come to pass anyway, never mind the fact that both parties twist the truth.

But not like Donald Trump, the ultimate narcissist, who is spinning out of control.

The worst fear of a narcissist is no longer being on top, gaining the most attention. That’s why Trump keeps lying about crowd size. Why he’s boiling over all the focus on the Democratic convention and Kamala. That’s his spot, and now they’re usurping it!

Someone smart would change their game. That’s what strategy is all about. But Trump is just doubling-down, digging his hole deeper.

Did you read about his phone call to Fox DURING Kamala’s speech last night?

“Dialing In to Fox News, Trump Offers a Rambling Rebuttal to Harris’s Speech – The network ended the live interview after 10 minutes. Beeps could be heard as the former president seemed to accidentally press the buttons on the keypad of his phone.”

Free link: https://rb.gy/fye0v2

The piece-de-resistance was Greg Gutfeld’s comment after Trump was cut off:

“‘He’s still talking, by the way,’ Mr. Gutfeld joked.”

I won’t quite say that Fox News has turned into Don King, but the outlet is distancing itself from some of Trump’s shenanigans (famously, King started out in the corner of his fighter, but when the opponent was winning, he slowly shifted to their end of the canvas).

You don’t want to lose your core constituency.

And if you watched last night, you not only saw the rapt attention, but the raw inspiration and tears of women and people of color. Kamala was there for them.

Once again, it doesn’t matter if you disagree, I’m talking about perception. You saw a deep desire and belief in Kamala the way you used to see it with Trump and his acolytes, but without the craziness. (Didn’t Susan Powter implore us to stop the insanity?)

So what were the criticisms of Kamala in 2016… That she flip-flopped and was strident.

She ain’t gonna flip-flop this time, as Ian Hunter sang, once bitten, twice shy.

As for being strident… She was the opposite of that last night. She was warm, and friendly, and she radiated intelligence and competence, and those qualities are not only lacking in Trump, people have been wondering about them re Biden for over a year.

But Joe’s history.

Yet you’ve got Trump talking about Hunter last night. HYSTERICAL! A crybaby. You can only laugh.

So the bottom line is unless Kamala loses her mind and touches the third rail, the only thing that matters re the issues is the debate(s), when both candidates appear on stage.

Of course Kamala holds all the cards. From abortion on down. Statistics tell us most people support the Democratic agenda, even if they were disenchanted with Biden. And if Kamala prosecutes the case just like she did last night, it’s over for Trump. He’s going to amp it up with his lies, and she’s going to smile and make fun of him.

This is where the non-primary is helping Kamala and the Democrats. She wasn’t beaten to hell, she’s not bruised and battered, she fresh as a daisy.

Meanwhile, Trump has been fighting his whole life.

And now he looks like his good friend Putin. Who told the world how powerful he was and then little Ukraine took Russian land and Putin still hasn’t figured out what to do, he looks WEAK!

Trump looks anything but presidential these days. And like I said, it all comes down to perception.

And suddenly Trump doesn’t dominate the news cycle. People have been bitching for eons about all his free press. Now it’s all about Kamala, just like a new record replaces an old one on the chart.

Come on, do you really think someone is sitting at home debating who is better on immigration, Kamala or Trump?

There’s this belief that the undecided are weighing the issues, calculating their votes… Nothing could be further from the truth.

No, what has happened is the disconnected have become incentivized. The battle has been recast. Suddenly Trump is the old fading man we know all about and Kamala is seen as new and fresh, a crusader against all the b.s. we’ve been experiencing from the right for years.

Once again, you right wingers can e-mail me your falsehoods, your hate of the left, ad infinitum, which you will do, but you’re missing the point. THIS IS NOW A HIGH SCHOOL ELECTION!

Trump was never a wonk. That’s not Harris’s résumé. It’s known bully versus new girl in school. It’s that simple. It’s a popularity contest. People want to see the self-satisfied male go down, it doesn’t really matter who is running against him. But the fact that it’s a fresh faced female…you can believe in that, you can have HOPE!

The blowback is already deafening. The mainstream media, the political junkies, they want to make it about the issues, the horse race, they want to dig deep, bloviate on TV, deliver their think pieces, not even knowing that most people are alienated by this class. No, most people are eager to get on with their lives. They believe Kamala is selling safety. Trump is selling chaos. And no one likes chaos.

That’s why Trump got elected in 2016. He promised a disembowelment of the elite. And he did that. But there was no real plan after running, no idea what to do after victory. We mostly got the same Republican tax low get rid of services agenda we’ve always gotten from the right. With a whole bunch of hate to boot. Sure, some people want more of this, but most do not, they actually want us to get along, together.

And be able to get an abortion to boot.

That’s how desperate Trump now is, he’s changing his tune on abortion, trying to make it look like he’s on the pro-choice side, assuming we’ve all had amnesia.

Once again, Trump is running on a record, and unless you’re rich, the only benefit of his term was that it was anti-Democrat. Period. Whereas Harris is tainted by negative perception of the Biden term… But most people don’t think the vice president has any power anyway.

And the video from the convention. Shawn Fain, with his “TRUMP IS A SCAB” t-shirt? And Ana Navarro comparing Trump to the leaders of her homeland Nicaragua? It’s like shooting fish in a barrel. Trump’s only second is Elon Musk, whose Tesla was outsold by BMW electric cars in Europe this quarter, and Wall Street can’t get the X debt off its books, and…

Those in the right are in an echo chamber. Ignore them, even better, LAUGH AT THEM! They can’t handle it, they’ve got no sense of humor. And most of the rank and file are completely uniformed on the issues.

So. other than the debates, Harris does not need to get down to the real nitty-gritty. It’s only the pundit class who complain and want more detail. Her voters don’t need it, they’re IN!

Perception is Harris is a winner and Trump is a loser. Didn’t he lose once already? And complained he didn’t? That might work amongst his delusional fans, but no one else is buying it.

So it all comes down to turnout. That’s the big concern of this election. Not what Kamala said today or Trump tomorrow. They’ll meet together once, maybe a couple of times more, and then they’ll be running separate operations that will not intersect, the final battle coming on Election Day.

This has been the right wing strategy forever, to get the left to fight the battle on their terms, to define the issues, force the left to play, whether it be inanities like Obama’s birth certificate…and now Trump has rolled out that same trope with Kamala. If we don’t pay attention to it, it doesn’t exist!

Homey don’t play that no more. The rules of engagement have been redrawn.

And I hate to tell you this, but it doesn’t have a whole hell of a lot to do with Harris herself. The public was ready for a change, the public was ready for hope. We can question all day long whether she has enough experience, but how much experience did Trump have in 2016? NIL!

But now I’m taking the bait. The truth is Harris has plenty of experience. And when she said last night that her career has always been “For the people,” man did that resonate.

So when people try to drag you into a discussion, the same battles we’ve been having for the last eight plus years, don’t even bother. Don’t insult, just, once again, laugh. Tell them you’ve got your team and we’ve got ours, and we’ll see you on November 5th.

The popular vote is in the bag.

The Electoral College?

We need each and every vote.

At this point we don’t need to convince you one way or the other, your mind is made up, even those who say it’s not, they just like the attention, or they don’t want to be labeled.

No, it all comes down to getting to the polls.

This is your job. Vote by mail if possible. In November drive people to their voting place. No excuses. I don’t want to hear you’re sick or don’t care or…

This is the election of your lifetime.

Don’t you want to have a say?

OF COURSE YOU DO!

And if everybody votes, that loser Trump will be banished forever, only to show up in court, hopefully to end up in jail.

Then we’ll know there’s justice for all the people, that the law applies to everybody.

I can’t wait.

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.)

______________________________________

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

______________________________________

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

______________________________________

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 

______________________________________

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! 

______________________________________

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.

______________________________________

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

______________________________________

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.

______________________________________

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!

______________________________________

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.