1

And I got the one I love beside me
My troubles behind me
I’m alive and I’m free
Who wouldn’t wanna be me

The goal of the concert is to take the attendee, the listener, from his workaday world into the STRATOSPHERE! To scoop him up with a guitar and take him AWAY!

I sat on the phone with Gary Borman last week as he told me country programmers had informed him the Keith Urban show in Phoenix was the best they’d ever seen. And with my newfound interest in country music, did I want to go? He insisted he didn’t want me to write about it, that this wasn’t his motivation, he just wanted me to EXPERIENCE IT!

But if you were there, how could you NOT talk about it? How could you NOT write about it?

Usually the comp seats are in the loge, just to the side of the stage, with a little height. But when we showed our tickets to the usher, he said we were on the floor, in the EIGHTH ROW! How can you sit on the floor for $79.50? To be up close and personal costs in excess of a hundred bucks, right? Not at a country show.

We got there early. I wanted to see the Wreckers. I’m a big fan of the Wreckers. It was astounding to see how far Michelle Branch has come since I saw her at the Roxy. She’s self-assured on stage, she works it. But when she and Jessica Harp switched sides of the stage, constantly, it was a bit cheesy. Still, I liked their final number, their hit "Leave The Pieces", when they walked the ramp down into the audience.

Yes, bisecting the floor, from stage almost to the far distant luxury boxes, was a ramp, like on an old TV show.

The people-watching during the break was utterly astounding. If you were MALE!

All you guys out there going to the metal shows, even seeing the classic rockers, YOU’RE IN THE WRONG PLACE! You’ve got to go to the country gig, you’ve got to go see Keith Urban. Felice pegged the ratio at TEN TO ONE!

Short ones, tall ones, big ones, small ones. All in their jeans and cowboy boots, their tits hanging out of their clingy tops. It was a veritable GIRLS GONE WILD! How did they all get the MEMO?

Nary a tattoo, nary a piercing. The attendees were positively wholesome. And at the appointed hour, when the hi-def screen showed a beating heart and Keith Urban emerged on a riser, strumming his electric guitar, you should have heard the SCREAMS! You could COUNT THE ORGASMS!

And you can include me in the tally. There was a shot of adrenaline, an excitement, all too often absent. And all there was was this one guy, smiling, playing his axe, sans dance steps, sans backing tracks. But then the backing band appeared. A drummer, of course, but FOUR MORE GUITARISTS!

Are you getting it, this was a ROCK SHOW! Hell, the deejay, given props by Keith early in the show, spun "You Shook Me All Night Long" and "You Get What You Give" just before the lights went down.

The band’s standing on stage, lined up like a freight train. Like a hipster football front line. They were solid, playing their stringed instruments, impenetrable, just sending this music out to US!

And it wasn’t a matter of overpowering sound, actually, the volume was LESS than the Wreckers. But there was this incredible feeling of being in it TOGETHER! Going on a journey with the band.

And the hi-def screen is mesmerizing. There’s a floating camera, shooting from in front, overhead, from below. We’re only feet away, but it’s like we’re watching a 70mm movie at the same time. You didn’t have TIME to think about your troubles!

And the instrumentation is so wholesome. So perfect. It’s all those instruments we used to hear on rock records. This is Crosby, Stills & Nash or Fleetwood Mac, but it’s BRAND NEW!

And then, the band fell away, and Keith Urban walked down the ramp into the middle of the audience and started strumming his guitar, one leg back, like he meant it.

And during this quiet, solo acoustic number, I started hearing something else… It was EVERY SINGLE CHICK SINGING ALONG!

Pray that it’s raining on Sunday
Stormin’ like crazy
We’ll hide under the covers all afternoon
Baby whatever comes Monday
Can take care of itself
‘Cause we got better things that we can do
When it’s raining on Sunday

You can FEEL the audience swaying. Looking to the sky, singing along with this chorus. With the great change in the middle, that resonated so, even though I’D NEVER HEARD IT BEFORE!

If you want to get laid, if you want to know what women want, listen to "Raining On Sunday". It’s like Katherine Heigl in "Knocked Up". She doesn’t need an Adonis, she just needs someone to LISTEN TO HER! To UNDERSTAND HER! These are the moments that count, when you’re together, only the two of you, not when you’re out in public, in your finery, trying to demonstrate to everybody how hip you are.

Oh, they played "Stupid Boy". But I enjoyed "I Told You So" even more.

By this time the band had set up on stools at the far end of the auditorium, at the end of the ramp. Keith picked up the poster that said the holder would let him kiss his wife if Keith would let him kiss his, and then, after laughing, Keith ran into the audience and kissed the guy’s significant other. And upon returning to his stool, Keith leaned into the mic and said GOOD LUCK EXECUTING YOUR PART OF THE DEAL!

Nicole Kidman was not there. But during the break of "I Told You So" a high school drumline appeared on stage, to bang out the part. Girls hitting basses, kids playing the tom-toms NEXT TO THEM! Felice thought it was a bit cheesy, I dug it. After all, I remember the USC Marching Band on "Tusk".

And almost two hours in, after the band had left the stage, and Keith returned for an encore, before he put his fingers on the piano keys, he said he wanted to try an experiment. He wanted everybody to take out their cell phone. That we were going to do THE WAVE!

Yup, twice around the building, with our lit handsets. I haven’t seen something so cool since we did the wave at Bruce Springsteen’s sold out Coliseum gig twenty years ago.

2

Take your records, take your freedom
Take your memories I don’t need ’em
Take your space and take your reasons
But you’ll think of me

I think of my rock and roll days. When music was all I cared about. When I lived to go to the show. When I saved the ticket and plastered it to my wall. But sometime in the last decade, it left me. They said I was too old, I didn’t understand the kids’ music, it wasn’t made for me. Watching Steve Jobs became more interesting than listening to the new records. Which were so stylized, which lacked authenticity. But unlike the singer of this song, my girl came back. She looked a little bit different, but I recognized her, she was still the same. She wasn’t wearing a fancy outfit, she dressed casually, just like me. And she wasn’t dancing. And she was playing a guitar. Many guitars.

There was no attitude. The music spoke for itself. We were all enthralled by, in service to, the music. I pinched myself, I said this couldn’t be true, I was too sophisticated, too many years had gone by, I couldn’t feel this way again.

But I did.

Whatever was happening outside Staples Center, it suddenly no longer seemed to matter. I was with twenty thousand friends. On a ship hovering above all the trouble, in a space that only music can deliver, where you just feel good.

I know you remember this feeling.

Maybe you’ve been posing, staying you still feel it, as you sit backstage while the band plays.

Maybe you’ve found your niche. Maybe you’ve never lost it.

But for the rest of us. Who not only can’t understand the RIAA suing people, but the major labels, terrestrial radio and the media at large… It’s astounding that someone has picked up the torch and is carrying it.

 ANYTHING UNSOLICITED IS SPAM!

When was the last time you were THRILLED to get junk mail? Took ten minutes out of your day to slowly go through all the crap that clutters your mailbox. Looking for incredible offers. Discount vacations. Miracle products. 10% off at a retail establishment you’ve never been to but that keeps sending you their fucking coupon EVERY FUCKING WEEK!

NEVER!

I hate stores I’ve never been into. Because of their intrusion into my life.

But that’s in the physical sphere…

What kind of fucked up world do we live in where people RAIL about spam in their e-mail inbox, and then go out and spam OTHERS!

Oh, I get it. You think your product has value.

I’ll clue you into something, the spammer does too.

But what’s worse is we see your product JUST LIKE THAT OF THE SPAMMER!

People collect e-mail addresses. They see it as an easy way to get ahead, sending blasts to people who can’t even remember who they are, to tell them about their piece of crap recordings.

The best was this guy today who bought me a track from the iTunes Store. Why the fuck would I want THAT? When he could have e-mailed me to ASK me if I’d like to listen to his music, and if I’d said yes I could navigate to his MySpace site whereupon after listening if I wanted to be honest I’d tell him to KEEP HIS DAY JOB!

We live in a land of deranged lunatics. They think if only they can send you their CD, they’ll be on the road to riches.

I’m unlike most people… I just tell you not to fucking send it, to let me know where I can hear the songs on the Web. But most people don’t even listen to me. I had one fucker who I told I didn’t like his music e-mail me and ask if he could STILL send me his CD. And then when I ran into him at Musexpo, he accosted me and thrusted it upon me. I was so offended, I told him the truth. That I was going to THROW IT OUT! Because it was WORTHLESS!

I’ve got something to tell you. If you happen to be good, people will be CLAMORING FOR YOUR STUFF! You can post it for free on MySpace, believe me, if I or anybody else hears something we like, we tell EVERYBODY, because almost all the shit up there STINKS!

So, you’re operating with one hand tied behind your back, I realize. You’re trying to sell something nobody wants. Maybe not even your mother. But start with your mother, and your sister and brother. ASK THEM if you can send them your music. Ask your friends if they will listen to your music. If it’s any good, they’ll ask YOU how they can help you. But when you send a generic e-mail, to a BUNCH OF PEOPLE, we don’t even pay attention, we’re pissed off, just like we are when we have to throw out the junk mail every day. What kind of asshole clutters up our inbox without asking first?

The funny thing is the reasonable people rarely do the wrong thing. It’s only the blind idiots and sociopaths who foist their crap unwittingly upon people. They should be reading this, but they WON’T!

Who is one of the biggest bloggers in cyberspace? Perez Hilton. Have you ever gotten an e-mail from Perez Hilton? Telling you about his latest post, to stop by? Of course not, the BUZZ brings you to his site

PerezHilton.com

and if you like it, you go back, if not, you never or rarely return. Fine, but you don’t HATE Perez Hilton. Because it’s YOUR CHOICE!

That’s why you hate PARIS Hilton. Because she WORKED IT! She cluttered up your TV screen. She PISSED YOU OFF! What the fuck did she ever do to deserve your attention? What did you do in Pro Tools to make me want to have your shit shoved down my throat? Oh, you’re gonna e-mail me about the gig of your unknown band and do you really think I’m gonna sit here and say I THINK I’M GONNA GO?

This is not about me. We’re all bombarded with spam. If you want attention, if you want to grow, you’ve got to ask permission. Or do something so good, that people will be DRIVEN TO YOU!

For example, TMZ.com. I didn’t get e-mail from the site, I wasn’t bombarded. I started reading ELSEWHERE about the site, how it had the best celeb video. So now it’s my gossip site of choice. I don’t believe it when YOU hype me, only when OTHERS DO!

So stop skimming e-mail addresses of those you’re in contact with. Stop spamming them, and bitching, asking why you can’t get any traction. Establish a bond, ask people if they want to be on the list, and make your e-mail to them personal, so they’ll be attracted. Then you might have a fighting chance.

 Bob

Just got your Letter for the day and was happy to hear that Lewis Taylor struck that deep-down chord with you. He did the same to me, so much so that I started a record company just so I could release his music in America. Honestly. We put out Stoned in 2005 and The Lost Album (which "Hide Your Heart Away" is from) this past January.

The critical response to Stoned was overwhelming (Rolling Stone "Artist To Watch", USA Today four-star review, Entertainment Weekly’s "Must List", three NY Times features, endless blog-love, etc.), and KCRW championed the record to the point that it was the #1 record there for nearly 3 months. We even had him play live on Conan the night before his sold-out American debut at the Bowery Ballroom (he also did sets for WFUV, World Café and Sirius Disorder that week). Unfortunately, that was the last bit of promo Lewis would do for the album and the heat quickly cooled.

The Lost Album came out a few months ago to similarly rapturous reviews but it’s had zero effect on sales. If you ever need proof that press alone can’t sell albums, I’ll gladly show you a stack of glowing "drop what you’re doing and buy this album" reviews that barely moved the needle.

Just to clarify, it sounded from your letter as if you think "Hide Your Heart Away" was a vintage recording. It was actually made in 2004. "Lovelight," from Stoned, is from 2001.

I’m happy to speak to you (in confidence) about this incredible music and the incredibly twisted tales behind our attempts to expose people to it, but either way I really hope you listen to both of these albums. You’ll be floored as I was, I have no doubt of that. I’m attaching a link to Ernest Hardy’s review of the Lost Album from the LA Weekly a couple of months back. It’s typical of the reaction we get to his music.

We’re distributed by Rhino, who I know you have a close association with (I actually met you years ago when I worked there) so next time you’re there, grab a copy. Otherwise, we’re in Venice and you’re more than welcome to stop by and pick one up.

Cheers and thanks for the enthusiasm,
David Gorman
www.hacktone.com

THE LA WEEKLY PROFILE:
www.laweekly.com/music/music/lets-get-lost/15854/

Dear Bob,

Eighteen months ago, our services were engaged by Hacktone to spread the good word on this amazing artist and "Stoned," his (then) newly released album.

To this end, we did our best to secure appropriate exposure including national TV (he made his U.S. debut on Conan) and radio — he did a live broadcast on KCRW from the UK. This was a no-brainer in light of the fact that the record was the station’s most played and most requested album for three months.

Print coverage included not only USA Today (circulation 3 million +), noted in your piece, but also Entertainment Weekly, Billboard, MOJO, Blender, Rolling Stone and numerous major market dailies including the Boston Globe, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Dallas Morning News and the New York Times where Lewis was reviewed, referenced or otherwise mentioned (album review, performance preview feature, performance review) at least three times during the course of January, ’06. Right here at home, the LA Weekly called it "one of the finest albums of the year" and, not to be outdone, the Village Voice named it the album of the year. Rest assured, we didn’t neglect the web as popmatters.com championed the album calling it "spectacular."

I’m delighted that you’ve discovered Lewis Taylor at long last. In some way, it validates our efforts to let the world know about this very special artist and his brilliant music. I’m only sad that you didn’t get with the program earlier. I’d love to know what you think we should have done that we didn’t to get your attention on this earlier. As Randy Newman sang, "Maybe I’m Doing It Wrong," but in this case, I don’t think that’s a conclusion that many would draw.

All the best,

Bob

Bob Merlis/MFH

I got 75 e-mails about Lewis Taylor, singing his praises, with HOSANNAS! You’d think this is the new Elton John.

Actually, Elton himself endorsed Taylor,

Elton John hyping Lewis Taylor

but STILL his records didn’t sell.

What does that tell us? A LOT!

There are too many marketing messages. We’re on overload. We’ve tuned them out. To the point where we trust no outlet other than our friends. And only those friends we believe have tastes similar to ours.

If Bob Merlis was on the case, I’m sure I’ve got a CD somewhere in the house, his follow-through is great. But what would have motivated me to PLAY the damn album? Certainly not the reviews. Like I’m gonna trust a reviewer in the LA WEEKLY?

I might trust the reviewer in the "Wall Street Journal", since they write for an erudite audience. Then again, when Barry Mazor hyped the usual suspect, Lucinda Williams, I didn’t jump up to play the album either. So, he’s a fan. I don’t know him!

I think Dave Gorman is right, print is dead. Because the writers are just like today’s acts. Completely untrustworthy. There’s no Jon Landau writing for some credible magazine, never mind John Mendelssohn or Lester Bangs. No one you can follow, whose taste you divine and align yourself with. If some hack went to see the Springsteen of today and said he saw the future of music, he’d be lucky if the audience SHRUGGED!

Media is oppressive. And the Net is not much better. There are a million writers on Pitchfork, and no rhyme or reason why one album is good, and another bad. And there are ENDLESS reviews. New albums every day. How is someone supposed to KEEP UP!

I’ll clue you in, WE’RE NOT!

It used to be a badge of honor in this business to know every record. To study "Billboard" and be aware of every scene. Anybody who says they’ve got that ability, that knowledge today, is LYING! There’s just TOO MUCH INFORMATION!

So, you can harangue us. Try to convince us with saturation marketing. But that can’t be working too well. All that hype and Paul McCartney can only sell 160,000 odd albums? The hype must have slid off most people’s shoulders. Unless you’re involved in acts of bestiality on the side of the road, we’re just not paying attention.

So, you’ve got to motivate the fan base. Your mailing list is the most important marketing tool you’ve got. You can’t dun these people into submission. You’ve got to give them tools they can use. To help spread the word. You’ve got to let them know you appreciate their belief.

Really, don’t focus on converting new people. That’s like making blind sales calls. Just fan the flames of what you’ve already got.

If you’ve read the "Tipping Point", you know there are some connectors in the 75 people who e-mailed me. The key is empowering those ONE or TWO dudes. Because those people know everybody, can reach everybody. You’ve just got to reach THEM, and have them believe and spread the word. Convincing someone who talks to no one, or is too shy to push something on somebody else, is just a waste of fucking time. In other words, you’ve got to find the rabid people on your list, and SET THEM FREE! Not by paying them, just by giving them access to the shows, to the act. That’s all they want. Have the act stay at their house, let the fan feed them and you’ll own the fan FOR LIFE!

Meanwhile, what kind of fucked up exposure system do we have here in America. What kind of fucked up radio that Robbie Williams’ cover of Lewis Taylor’s "Lovelight" couldn’t get an OUNCE of traction.

Then again, EMI didn’t even bother to RELEASE "Rudebox" in America.

They tried overhyping him. How about UNDERHYPING him. His take on "Lovelight" has got more sex than anything Justin T. brings to the party. I’d tell you to watch the video, but it represents everything that’s WRONG with Robbie. Whoever shot this should be shot, he eviscerates any credibility Robbie Williams might have.

Still, you can hear the track… And you SHOULD!

Robbie Williams – Lovelight

We hate Robbie Williams in America because of the overhype.

But if they sold from the bottom up, with just the track…

"Lovelight" truly brings sexy back, it makes you move sinuously, not in a herky-jerky fashion. It’s not solely about the beat. People WANT to hear this, WANT to dance to this. But by pushing Robbie down America’s throat, we almost can’t sell ANYTHING he does.

The music business is in turmoil. Because all the old systems have calcified and if not dead, are on their last legs.

There IS no radio format for so much good music. And that and the endless commercials have caused people to tune out. But labels who only know how to do it the old way only want to sign what radio DOES play. Giving the impression that music sucks, for adventure is not rewarded whatsoever. And with the usual filters gone to shit, the public has given up, just tried to evade the shitstorm.

There’s stuff bubbling up. But that’s exactly what it’s doing, bubbling up. From the bottom. Top down marketing no longer works for music, if it works for ANYTHING!

 The first, and biggest American Idol just fell off her throne. What did we learn here?

1. That the music business has been fucked since the early nineties, when it became about the track, not the act. First the radio stations showed no loyalty, then the labels gave up on loyalty too. I mean if you’re an act, NEVER FORGET that radio is a bigger friend to the label than you are. You’re gonna come and go, but the station, the station REMAINS! And frequently, the same PLAYERS, albeit at different outlets. So, if you want to play the fame game, go for it. But know there are sharks in the water and you’re going to get bit.

IN OTHER WORDS, there are no Kelly Clarkson fans. Just fans of "Since U Been Gone". And that was a hit YEARS ago. In the entertainment business, it’s what have you done for me lately. "Since U Been Gone" can’t support a tour.

2. In the seventies, the acts sat atop the label, now that paradigm is gone, the execs are in control, just how they LIKE IT! Clive Davis failing to support Kelly Clarkson is akin to a Mafia Don chopping off the hand of someone who owes him money. It’s not so much about getting money out of THIS guy as it is letting everybody know who’s boss.

Kelly Clarkson could be the biggest asset Clive’s got. You’d think he’d want to protect her. Go on the road, meet the press and say how wonderful she is, how her album is the best shit he’s ever heard. But no, Clive stayed silent, and only emerged from the wings when the Net hubbub reached a gargantuan level. And then his support? It was meek and weak.

That’s our Clive, friend to the artist.

3. The Net’s rumor mill supersedes anything seen previously.

The story of Kelly Clarkson’s troubled album has been brewing online for MONTHS! And the story was only enhanced by Kelly’s label holding the record back. It’s like a movie, miss your targeted release date and everybody thinks you’ve got a turkey.

The only way to combat the Net buzz is to speak the truth. Something’s that’s anathema in this business.

Isn’t it funny that the ONLY person to speak truth in this fiasco has been Kelly herself. Talk about protecting the artist… No wonder she fired the Firm, isn’t this the MANAGER’S JOB? To protect the artist?

Kelly had to go out and tell her story, after the bad buzz was DEAFENING!

Then again, the track was not a hit. Kelly seemed to believe it was, but most artists are clueless when it comes to picking impact tracks. They think EVERYTHING is great. Or the NON-COMMERCIAL track is the hit. But I don’t blame Kelly here, she was like a battered wife. When NO ONE comes to your support, when NO ONE on your team is in your corner, you LISTEN TO NO ONE! Sure, she was wrong, but if there was someone in her camp she trusted, maybe she could have been shown that the track wasn’t a hit, and made an informed decision whether to release it anyway.

4. If you’re reliant on radio, you’re fucked. Radio is capricious, radio is ever-narrowing in what it plays. Radio has no commitment. Radio thinks you owe THEM! Come play my SHOW!

But how can we blame 25 year old Kelly Clarkson. It was NEVER good in her era. She didn’t live through AOR, never mind free form rock. When she came of age, it was MTV, all hype, all the time. Throw it down and become a star. I mean how much sympathy can we have. She went on a TV show to BEGIN WITH! And that’s the MTV paradigm. We can rocket you into space, but the quickness with which you ascend? That’s just how fast you’re gonna fall back to earth. Can you say not only A Flock Of Seagulls and Vanilla Ice but the Spice Girls and Jimmy Ray and..? If you wanted a career Kelly, if you wanted to be taken seriously, you had to develop a bit more organically. And, if you were hungry for a hit, you should have called Max Martin. Or, if you wanted a bit of credibility with your hit, you should have called Mutt Lange, this is the type of project that APPEALS to him. But no, you decided to go it alone. You were out of your league. But, as stated above, you didn’t trust anybody telling you this. So, you dug your own hole.

5. The seventies model rules. You’ve got to build the band, not the song. People have to BELIEVE IN THE BAND!

If Kelly wants people to believe in her, then she has to become three-dimensional. I mean at least she’s now coming out and saying she can’t find a man, but even the spin isn’t good. I’m a STAR! Why can’t I find love? She looks desperate as opposed to being akin to her audience. And, other than this seriousness about never being in love, she appears to be an airhead. What does Kelly Clarkson stand for, what does she believe in, other than FUN? That’s what we see all over the Net, Kelly Clarkson on vacation in a bikini. That paradigm didn’t work for Paris Hilton, and it won’t work for Kelly Clarkson. You’ve got to have SUBSTANCE if you want people to believe in you.

The fact that Kelly isn’t model beautiful, and struggles with her weight, these are endearing qualities. But who the fuck IS SHE?

6. Gig size. This killed Norah Jones’ career. You’re supposed to UNDERPLAY! But in a business where there are no new superstars, the infrastructure, the promoters, they want arena acts. And, the competition will deliver those dollars.

Kelly Clarkson should be playing theatres. You shouldn’t be able to get a ticket. Assuming the act wants to have cred and a career. You can’t have it both ways. You can’t go for every last dollar on a cleanup tour early in your career and then tell the audience you’re in it for the long haul. The aforementioned Spice Girls played arenas once.

7. For touring longevity, you’ve got to play rock. I don’t know if it’s the sound, or the culture built around the acts and their material, but no one singing pop other than Madonna can tour arenas on a regular basis. It’s evanescent music. So, you have an evanescent career. In order to last, your material must have meat on its bones. Believe me, Justin Timberlake is just one stiff away from being unable to fill arenas. He’s not a star, he’s a man of the MOMENT! Sure, he’s humble (good act Justin!) But the music he plays…it has no MEANING!

If you’re dependent on hits and spectacular staging then you’re fucked. If it’s not about the music first, you’re not gonna have a long career. I mean what are you gonna do next time, with no hits. Blow up the building?

8. Kelly Clarkson now has a choice. She can either be a popster or try to be a credible artist. If she wants immediate sales, both CD/iTunes and tickets, then she should play it Clive’s way, write guaranteed hits. If she wants cred, she needs an acoustic album in the fall. She has to leave this debacle behind. In any event, she needs a new hit album, SOON! Just like Mariah came back on IDJ.

Then again, don’t use Mariah as a model, Kelly. That’s all manipulated. And the babe is loony-tunes. Your way out is through honesty. Get on the cover of "People" and "Us". Tell your story first. Do some damage control. Maybe hire Michael Sitrick. This story is out of control, you need big time PR, not the hack at the label or your management company. You’ve got to be portrayed as the victim. Otherwise, they’re gonna bury you.

As for this album… The press has already buried it, even though most people have never heard it. Maybe there’s a hit on it. But if so, why didn’t you release it FIRST! Maybe you can work your way back into the public consciousness with this album, but I doubt it.

9. Sell the tickets when the act is hot. When the record is on the chart, even if it’s months before the tour. If the act is cold, don’t sell the tickets until it HEATS UP! Otherwise, you’re heading for a bruising.

10. What Kelly Clarkson has got working for her is her likability. She’s got to play this through the crisis. Then, she needs quality material. It all comes down to the songs.