1

Don’t tell me what happens.

We just finished five seasons of “Gomorrah.” I wanted to write about it numerous times, but I was fearful people would see the headline and delineate everything that happens. Happens all the time. Even worse are those people who castigate me for not mentioning a song or some other fact in my piece when I did, they just didn’t read it. So, once again, we’re only three episodes in, SO DON’T SPOIL IT!

But people still will. I’m taking a big risk here. I know from experience.

But I’m so damn excited about the show.

You see it’s hard to say anything good about Israel these days. Especially in light of its new far right government that is trying to undercut the power of the Supreme Court. And people believe that the Jews stole the Palestinians’ land and…if you’re concerned about the lack of veracity in the U.S. news, you’ve got no idea how bad it is when it comes to Israel.

Because everybody hates the Jews. It’s in that Tom Lehrer song. But if we bring up antisemitism it triggers non-Jews, just like talking about racism triggers whites, so it’s taboo.

Did you see some guy with a history of Jewish hate shot people outside synagogues in L.A? Probably not, in an era where the shootings in Michigan didn’t even make the front page of certain papers.

Then again, you won’t see coverage on Fox News of the team broadcasting election conspiracies that they derided off-screen. The news just doesn’t reach people these days, unless they’re searching for it. And the more established an outlet, the less it is trusted, or even consumed. If I quote the “New York Times” people deride me. They point to outlets like the Gateway Pundit, a conspiracy site, for their truth.

But it’s even worse. Did you read Paul Krugman on the right’s vilification of education today, speaking of the “Times”?

“The Right Don’t Need No Education”: https://nyti.ms/3lJAqmx

Someone in this business, I won’t mention their name for fear of retribution, recommended a book on Israel, entitled “Israel”: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth”: https://amzn.to/3XDRUy2 It’s an easy read, but most people won’t, read it that is, because it’s more satisfying to live in darkness. And here I blame the left, yes, the woke left. I don’t want to defend the settlements, but if you think the Palestinians want peace, want to coexist with Israel, you know nothing about the subject. The Palestinians want Israel gone.

But Israel fights back. Something Jews are not allowed to do.

But ever since the Raid on Entebbe, when it comes to terrorism, the IDF, i.e. the Israel Defense Forces, are the gold standard. They don’t pussyfoot, they don’t mess around.

It’s not like America. Where nothing can be done. In Israel, they take action, and that’s what “Fauda” is all about.

2

Doron is a star. Bigger and more believable, even more three-dimensional than the vaunted Tom Cruise. Because Doron, played by Lior Raz, is not playing to the camera, the masses, he’s only concerned with achieving the goal.

Not that it’s black and white. Not that it’s Israelis good, Palestinians bad. It’s more chiaroscuro than that.

But… How is it that a guy with a scraggly beard who’s losing his hair is such a star? Because he’s intense, because he’s believable, because he’s a thinker, because he’s a bit of a hothead.

In other words, he’s human.

They don’t have humans in Hollywood movies, they’re literally cartoon characters, two-dimensional. We want people who are flawed, but on the right path.

So…

The Israelis and the Danes make the best television. See how many of their shows are remade for these shores. Like “In Treatment,” which was actually sold to HBO by Noa Tishby, the woman who wrote the Israel book above.

You see in Israel, it’s not about production values, it’s about story. The productions are visceral. You can feel it. And it’s all on the line.

That’s something we’re unaware of in America. We’re comfortable. There’s a war in Ukraine and we can’t feel it. But if you live in Israel, a country the size of New Jersey, you’re on high alert all the time. Because your life is at stake. Literally.

And you might also know that Israel is a hotbed of tech innovation. That’s where Waze came from.

And you might also know that Israel is not as dependent upon the U.S. as it used to be, if it’s dependent at all.

And you put all this in the mix and you have “Fauda.”

In America we’re rarely in jeopardy. The risks we’re concerned with are whether we get into the right college. Whereas in “Fauda,” it’s life and death, the survival of an entire country.

So you’ve got a band of brothers (with a sister!) They’re an elite team who go in surgically and address problems. And some lose their lives. But they’re in it for the cause, and the adrenaline.

You know how you watch lawyer shows and want to be an attorney? Believe me, most of the time it’s boring, very boring. Ditto being a cop.

But this Israeli team…

They’re on the cutting edge of life all the time. It could be their last moment at any second. They’re down with the cause. They’ve got something to believe in, whereas in America we fight culture wars.

“Fauda” rivets you. The Israelis get things done. They don’t get caught up in red tape, they’re looking for the solution. They know that time is of the essence. They know what’s at stake, like in the ’72 Olympics.

Once bitten, twice shy.

Many times bitten, always on high alert.

Even if you’re antisemitic you won’t be able to take your eyes off “Fauda.” A big thumbs-up!

3

“Fauda” is on Netflix.

“Gomorrah” is on HBO Max. I get e-mail about “Gomorrah” all the time. And I highly recommend it. Sure, there’s blood and gore, but watch for the thinking.

Like in “House of Cards.”

In America, the action heroes act on instinct. Whereas the Mafia dons in “Gomorrah” constantly kick back and think in a crisis, they just don’t shoot. And there are so many lessons. Like not to trust anyone, ESPECIALLY family.

The last season is substandard, almost chewing the scenery, but before that…

4

Don’t fall for the HBO buzz. That’s old school. And old people, who control the media. You see these viewers still have cable, which youngsters don’t. They’re inured to an old system. Whereas in truth it’s all about on demand. Streaming. For all the buzz about “White Lotus,” there’s none about “Gomorrah,” which is far superior.

Then again, many people don’t like blood and guts. But “Gomorrah” is closer to real life than most of the shows on HBO.

Welcome to the new reality. Where the mainstream media is not in touch with the buzz. I’m not reading about this new season of “Fauda,” but I’m hearing about it in my inbox. You’re your own barometer these days. Don’t fall for the highly-hyped lowbrow. You probably already know about “Fauda,” but if you don’t, check it out, from the beginning.

And I highly recommend “Gomorrah,” at least the first four seasons.

It’s no longer about movies. Music is about singles, visual entertainment is about albums, i.e. series. Movies scratch the surface, series go deep, they make you think, at this point movies seem so hit and run.

You can watch the Oscars, but that’d be missing the point. Even Barry Diller says the movies are over: 

“Barry Diller: The Oscars Are Over and the Movie Business Is Finished”: https://bit.ly/3S5s5Wo

The ball keeps moving. Keeping up is a full time job.

And maybe you don’t care, but there’s a plethora of riches out there, if you just dig a little deeper.

Mr. Ticketmaster.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fred-rosen/id1316200737?i=1000599939689

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/d20dc1b0-054d-45b1-b201-37319570e442/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-fred-rosen

https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast/episode/fred-rosen-212002171

https://spoti.fi/3HWeHza

1

When was the last time you heard “Bette Davis Eyes”?

I can’t remember when, but I remember the track, it was ubiquitous back in 1981. Forty plus years ago if you’re counting, and I am.

I got this e-mail from John Ingham today:

_________

“Subject: Re: Springsteen Tickets

Here in the UK BBC TV has a quiz show called Pointless. A subject is chosen and a set of questions is displayed. The questions have previously been asked to 100 people, who answer as many of the questions as they can. The object is for the studio players to correctly  answer the question with the lowest number of people getting it right.

Yesterday one of the questions was photos of five artists who were ‘Grammy Winners With More Than 15 Awards’ — a combination of people like Beyonce (nearly everyone knew) to Alison Krauss (0 people recognized her). Among them: Bruce Springsteen. Not only did the studio players (both young and retired) not know who he was, out of the 100 people only 23 people knew.

Outside of his fans he’s history and forgotten.

Cheers,

John Ingham”

_________

Unfathomable. And if they posted Kim Carnes’s photo I’d bet no one would know who she was, but there could be a case of mistaken identity.

That was the name of the album, that opened with “Bette Davis Eyes.” Which I purchased as a promo. For a couple of bucks I’d take a risk, and I did like “Bette Davis Eyes.”

I’d even proffer at this late date if Kim Carnes appeared on the Super Bowl more people would know her big hit song than those of Rihanna. Well, maybe not, but can I admit I don’t know a single Rihanna song? I didn’t have to hear them so I didn’t. Back in the sixties we were prisoners of AM radio. But then FM came along and unless you were in the car, you only listened to FM. And soon every automobile came with FM. So why listen to AM? It was a badge of honor not to.

And this persisted until the days of MTV, which created a monoculture. We all knew the same stuff. And although the division line (bell?) was history, at least we were all on the same page, today we’re all on a different page.

As for listening to terrestrial radio… I can’t remember the last time I did. And SiriusXM has a zillion channels and… Why should I listen to what I don’t want to?

As for listening to albums…

I subscribe to the Apple News. A bargain for ten bucks a month. But I read less and less. At first I was excited that they had all these magazines I didn’t subscribe to, like the English version of “Esquire” and even “Mojo,” but the truth is most magazines have piss-poor writing, oftentimes by the uninformed. Yes, I have skiing as a favorite in Apple News and most of the articles are worthless, freelancers delivering an overview on that which they do not know well.

But all this is to say I’m overloaded on input, and oftentimes this means I shut down and don’t even partake. As for those people surfing constantly for new music… Wow, what a waste of time, there are too many tune-outs. And when you find something you like, you feel like you’re the only one who’s ever heard it.

Not that anybody is addressing this.

Algorithmic playlists were exciting upon their introduction, but the truth is people curate better than machines. Because art is subjective. It’s about feel. It can’t be quantified. So…

I know Rihanna was all over pop radio. But I don’t listen to pop radio. Sure, I knew the title of the track “Umbrella,” but where and why would I hear it?

2

So I was lying on the couch and a song came into my head. “Draw of the Cards.”

This was the surprise on “Mistaken Identity.” The one track that did not sound like anything else. With the prominent synthesizers of the day. Hypnotic, akin to an extended Loggins & Messina track, or one of the multi-minute opuses of the late sixties and early seventies, made to relax you, set your mind free, to drift, thinking…

That’s what the hit parade is rarely about, and certainly not today. You’ve got to make it obvious, with edges in order to hook listeners. Album tracks only matter for established fans. Therefore most of the attention is on a couple of cuts, they bring in a zillion writers, remix it, trying to get it just right, squeezing the humanity right out.

And the funny thing is this synth-based track has more humanity than those old cuts. And “Draw of the Cards” resonated.

But that’s not why I’m writing this.

You see albums used to be digestible. Under forty minutes. 39:57 in the case of “Mistaken Identity.” I’ll posit streaming didn’t kill the album, but the CD, when you could suddenly fit 80 minutes of music and acts did. And it was oftentimes one seamless stream of crap. There was no opening track on the second side. As for the closing cut, most people never made it that far.

But when albums were shorter and you bought them you played them. And hidden gems were revealed.

And that’s “Don’t Call It Love,” in the middle of the second side of “Mistaken Identity.”

3

“Nobody believes that I really care for you”

Kim Carnes did not write “Don’t Call It Love,” although she did write the haunting title track, “Mistaken Identity.” And she got and gets props for covering Frankie Miller’s “When I’m Away From You,” another musician lost to the sands of time. Sure, there were his health issues, but before that…he could write and sing and play, I know, I bought the albums.

But “Don’t Call It Love”… I remembered it was written by Tom Snow. Who had a solo album distributed by Atlantic. And Wikipedia told me he cowrote it with “Fame”‘s Dean Pitchford. And I wondered if Tom ever covered it. So I started searching on Spotify and I didn’t find a version by him, but I did find one by Dolly Parton. DOLLY PARTON?!

Reached number three on the country charts back in 1985, who knew?

So I hit play.

I expected a complete reworking, but it’s the same damn song, and I couldn’t stop playing it.

4

Now how do I explain the magic of “Don’t Call It Love.” I’m talking about the Kim Carnes version, let’s start there.

Sure, there are the lyrics, but the song is a hit without them.

First and foremost it’s the groove. Up and down, like a merry-go-round, you start to nod your head in time.

And the cheesy keyboard that sounds so good. Not exactly like an organ, but even more ingratiating.

And then there’s Carnes’s voice. A female Rod Stewart. Sure, people commented on her throatiness back then, but today we’re looking for colorless voices, it’s all about range, not about edge. And edge is the essence of rock and roll.

And speaking of rock and roll, “Don’t Call It Love” has guitars.

And then there’s Jerry Peterson’s sax solo. Which is icing on the cake. It does not descend the cut to schlock, this is not latter-day Chicago, BS&T, this is still a rock track.

“Nobody believes that I really care for you”

Do they really care for you? It’s hard to know. You’re not exactly sure. They’re here, but in an instant they could be there.

“They don’t think my heart is true

I don’t think you agree”

Never ever listen to your friends, unless they tell you your significant other is doing drugs or stepping out on you. Only you know what’s between the two of you, what turns you on.

“You know I’m a lifetime guarantee”

That’s what we’re all looking for. Like our parents had. Well, if you’re an old enough baby boomer, before the Louds got divorced on PBS. You want to be able to rely on them, count on them, through ups and downs.

“So if they ask you what you mean to me

Don’t call it love, heavens above

We got a better thing

Don’t call it love, that ain’t enough

Tell ’em you’re my everything”

I play this game with Felice’s four year old grand niece Ella. I ask her if she likes something and she says, “I don’t like it, I LOVE IT!”

The exuberance of this magical chorus conveys how she feels about him. It’s a ringing endorsement. She really cares for him.

“Nobody believes

We got something they ain’t got

They never seen a fire this hot

They never got that far

We’re burning as bright as any star”

Here you hear the magic of a songwriter, not just another person in the band laying down lyrics atop a track. What is captured here is the universality of that moment in a relationship when you can’t think about anyone else, when you’re elated, when you’re so happy to be alive. And if you’re lucky you’ll have moments in the future just like this one, albeit more brief and more infrequent. And if you’re searching for this hit constantly…you’ve probably been married multiple times and still haven’t found what you’re looking for, which probably doesn’t exist.

Then there’s the bridge:

“(Feels so good) Feels so good

(Holding tight) Holding tight

(Tight and close) Through the night

(Through the night)

They can call it what they like

They ain’t got it right”

Positively revelatory in the era of today where tracks don’t even have chord changes, you can listen to them, but you can’t sing them. And singing them is so joyful, it makes you feel so happy.

So “Don’t Call It Love” is a bit more obvious than your usual AOR fare. But it’s not a sellout, it doesn’t pander, and it’s got the underpinnings, the building blocks of the classics.

And that’s why it’s a hit. This is the kind of fare the label was looking for when they said they did not hear a single.

The track overflows with exuberance, it just makes you feel good, it’s the essence of the musical experience. It’s a hit, but it wasn’t for Kim Carnes.

5

But it was for Dolly Parton.

That loping groove is still there. But Dolly personalizes it with her own throaty vocal. And in truth, it’s not in the league of the Kim Carnes version, but a hit song works for everybody. And put a name brand with the right song and the right team and it runs up the chart.

So what have we learned here?

Possibly nothing. Because first and foremost you have to want to learn, and many people don’t, especially when it comes to decades-old tracks that have not survived in the public consciousness.

However, you’ve got the essence right here.

Like they say, it all comes down to songs. And some performers can write A+ material, like Lennon and McCartney. And then there are others who write songs only they can perform. Come on, “Midnight Rambler” or “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” by anybody but the Stones? Sure, you can sing them, but they lose their essence.

And somehow we’ve lost the magic of songs. Maybe because songwriting is not as lucrative as it was previously. Furthermore, songwriting, as referenced above, is oftentimes done differently today. You cobble together the track from as many as twenty sources, building it up, creating a confection. But oftentimes there’s not a solid base. Not only are the fundamentals nonexistent, there are no hooks.

Then again, you can write a hit today and nobody can hear it. There’s no magic formula of success. It’s more about hoovering up and amplifying that which raises its head.

6

Now in truth Kim Carnes was sui generis. A singer with rock roots who also lived in the middle of the road, back when music was the foremost art form and everybody was following and aware of it. We loved Fleetwood Mac and Led Zeppelin. And Cat Stevens. The only criterion being that it was good. We were open. And when something caught fire we all shared in the joy. There was a plethora of riches, in different sub-genres.

Don’t call it love, that ain’t enough, I can’t stop playing “Don’t Call It Love,” I’ve never burned out on it. It’s one of those cuts with a little something extra, that makes it rise above, that when it ends you need to hear again, that evidences humanity.

That’s what we’re looking for.

They’re going for bupkes. People keep e-mailing me about this. Like this gent:

“From: Russell Altman

Bob I’d like you to post this. Most of Bruce’s shows are dead on arrival. He is big on the eastern seaboard Denver and Southern California. No one gives a f**k about him. I doubt you will put this up but you should to let the public know. Bruce also has been dropping GA Seats and best lower level seats day of show. Were these tickets Jon Landau and Bruce holds? You won’t tell the public how they f**k the public.

“Bruce Springsteen Tickets For Houston Now Cost The Same As Two Gallons of Gasoline”: https://bit.ly/3I4ojrP

There’s a lot to unpack here.

First and foremost, if you want to see Bruce Springsteen live, you’ll have no problem getting a ticket. There are tons available on the Ticketmaster site, and not at exorbitant prices either.

From: Steve Hutton

“Springsteen Tulsa next week.

Wonder what the Taylor Swift bottom will be”

Attached is a listing for five pairs of two tickets in Tulsa, six are going for $10 and four are going for $9. You can see the screenshot here:

https://bit.ly/3YxyGLG

So all that hoopla about the four digit Springsteen tickets?

The dirty little secret is it SOLD tickets. Not at that value, but the less expensive ones were scooped up. Because people were afraid of being left out, because people wanted to scalp the tickets themselves.

Let’s be clear, a cursory survey of availability at Bruce’s dates shows mostly resale tickets. However, in some cases there are still primary tickets available.

And believe me, when you see resale tickets from behind the stage, from the upper deck, these are definitely individuals. Scalpers don’t buy these tickets, there’s no demand beyond face value, and that’s the paradigm the professionals employ. The last thing they want is to be left holding the bag, i.e. the tickets, they’re worthless after the show plays. So the scalpers only buy good inventory.

But the punters are unsophisticated. Furthermore, they don’t know that they can’t compete with the professionals. If you drop the price of your ticket, they’re going to drop the price of their ticket by a dollar or more. It’s all done automatically, there are computer programs. You can’t beat the scalpers at their own game, impossible.

Not that the scalpers are always right. Sometimes they do end up with inventory they can’t sell, or that they take a loss on. But one thing is for sure, scalping is a business, and if you think you can buy four tickets to a hot show and sell the other two no problem…you’ve got another think coming.

As for Taylor Swift… Insiders know she didn’t go clean everywhere last time. Which was an incentive to put all her tickets up for sale on the same day, to create mania, to get people to buy tickets for fear of being left out. Springsteen is playing arenas and there are tickets available. Swift is playing stadiums, you’ll have no problem getting a ticket at a cheap price. Face value at worst. Maybe below, because all the fans are scalping themselves.

So, the fans are guilty.

As for Bruce… I’m sure there were some holds, but not many, certainly not in the middle of the country. And there are always tickets released at the last minute due to stage configuration, there are holdbacks to make sure the stage fits, you certainly don’t want to cancel people’s ducats because their seat is squeezed out.

And the only entity not at fault here is…TICKETMASTER!

Well, it’s not that simple. You see Ticketmaster does make fees on tickets resold on their platform, not that you must use their platform.

However, pointing the finger at Ticketmaster as the culprit…is oftentimes wrong.

Don’t believe the hype.

Then again, they said that back in the seventies, not today.

Since you can’t get certain gaming consoles, since you can’t get the electric car you want, people believe they’re not going to get tickets to the show they want. And when you deal with superstars like Swift, who appeals to a younger demo, you have inexperienced parents caught up in the maelstrom as they try to get tickets for their kids. Pros know if you want to go, just wait. For the market to settle. For the prices to come down. Until the day of the show.

So would Swift have gone clean everywhere if it were not for the Ticketmaster slowdown? Maybe not. And if she went market by market, some dates might have been hot, and others colder. And margins are thin and acts do not want to play to empty seats, EVER!

Not that the media can fathom all of the above. The same media that does not understand that the Luminate/”Billboard” numbers are manipulated, to the benefit of the labels. Record companies don’t want pure streaming numbers because they can’t game the system! Want your album to move up the chart? Release some vinyl, or lower the price at the iTunes Store, physical and sales are weighted more than streams in Luminate’s scam system.

Not that this “corruption” is solely in the music business. It’s everywhere. Like slotting fees at supermarkets. You pay to get your items on the shelves, most people think it’s a gentleman’s agreement, but no way. And if your product doesn’t sell, they pull it, because slotting fees are just an element of the overall profit at the store, the items actually have to move across the scanner for the virtuous circle to be complete.

And the funny thing is the flames of the mania are often fed by very few people. Post somewhere that tickets have gone up in price to over four figures and that spreads like wildfire, that becomes the story, even amongst people who don’t want to go!

There are shows where it’s nearly impossible to get a ticket. But if you pay the scalper enough… The scalper always has tickets. But their inventory can be low, they can sell out. So if you really need to be in the building you get caught up in the buzz and buy. Maybe tickets you really didn’t want, whether it be a matter of price or location.

Turns out tickets have a value. And to a great degree this is established by the people, the marketplace, not the act. If a show goes clean instantly, the mantra in the business is you undercharged. Then again, if a show does not sell out instantly, it’s not a good look. And after the initial on-sale it’s so hard to build further momentum, move tickets. The promoter does not want to be stuck with inventory, because of the aforementioned thin margins.

Oh, margins could be better, but the acts take almost all of the face value of the ticket. Margins are way down in the single digits. So the promoter has to sell nearly every ticket to make a profit.

By now your head is probably spinning. Which is just the point. It’s too complicated, you just don’t understand.

Get it?