From: Brittany Rice

Re: A Murder At The End Of The World

My name is Brittany and I’m the Director of Social Media and Content at FX leading the marketing for A Murder at the End of the World. It’s quite refreshing to see the title pop up in my personal email inbox.

I may be a little biased but I’ll say a few things about this series –

1. Stick it out through the entire series. You’ve started at a great time – the 4th episode came out this week (of 7) and I personally think this is when things really pick up.

2. The creators, Brit and Zal have a cult following from their past projects, specifically Netflix’s The OA (another great watch, but the 2nd season may lean a bit too sci-fi for you). This niche but dedicated community is what has driven our marketing since day 1. They are Brit and Zal evangelists and watching them get giddy over our marketing and dive deep into the details and theories for the series is just as much fun as watching the series itself. I highly suggest perusing their Reddit page or Discord channel.

3. Speaking of the details, what really makes this, and all of Brit and Zal’s work so special is the passion and details they put into everything. Here are a few of my favorite facts from this series –

All hacks in the series are real. They had Moxie Marlinspike (creator of Signal) brought on as a tech consultant.

It was important to the creators to not glorify or eroticize the body of dead women. No bodies of dead women are ever shown – only skeletons. This approach was inspired by a film called “Memories of a Murder” because it gave a sense of haunt and loss for the young women while maintaining a sensitivity that never made it feel like they were being objectified.

Andy Ronson’s character wasn’t actually based on any current tech lord billionaires, but instead, is inspired by Willy Wonka. Wonka was a visionary and creative who built a fiefdom, obsessing over every detail, just like Andy and his fortress. The golden tickets come into play as invitations to the retreat and both Andy and Wonka have their own agendas once the guests arrive.

The paintings in the dining area are recreations of Louise Bourgeois’ ‘The Red Sky’ series. For Bourgeois, colors were symbolic of distinct emotional states. Red represents ‘the intensity of the emotions involved,’ and was often synonymous with pain. She equated it with blood, violence, danger, shame, jealousy, and depression. These emotions and visuals parallel the themes of the series. “Red Sky” can also reference the sailor’s quote “Red sky at night, sailors delight” foreshadowing Rohan’s storyline.

I care about this show a lot and it’s very cool to see you write about a project I’m working on after following you since college (over a decade). 

Hope you enjoy the rest of the series!

Best,

Brittany

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From: Bill Gerber

Re: A Murder At The End Of The World

I had the pleasure of producing The In Laws starring Michael Douglas and Albert Brooks and I totally agree with Albert. He actually came up with the title The Wedding Party and it was a really good movie directed by Andy Fleming and I thought should have been a big hit. The studio decided to change the title so late in the game that I had already sent out the crew gifts with the old title. The original was a classic for a lot of reasons and our film was it’s own thing. I have nothing against remakes. They are practically as old as the business itself but you should have a good reason for doing it and having Albert and Michael was a great way to reimagine the story and coming up with an original title for the movie would definitely have been the right move.

Yours,

Billy

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Re: A Murder At The End Of The World

Cool side note, the hotel in the series is based on a real place, Deplar Farm in Iceland

They have a one of a kind recording studio. I’m part of the team that runs it. Makes watching the series even more enticing.

-rock steady

Jay Sweet

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Re: A Murder At The End Of The World

Bob, glad you found Murder at the End of the World. The fever excitement for this show is because of THE OA, Brit and Zal’s previous masterpiece. THE OA was notoriously cancelled by Netflix after a mind-bending 2-season run that ended with a jaw-dropping cliffhanger. Fans of THE OA (myself included) have been holding onto hope that the show would somehow come back. You must watch it to understand how it’s possible for it to come back “reincarnated” as another show…and there is growing speculation that “Murder at the End Of The World” may tie-in to the OA universe. Those who know, knew. Excited to see how this plays out and I cannot recommend THE OA high enough.

– Wordburglar

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Re: A Murder At The End Of The World

As far as “Murder At The End Of The World,” there’s a small group of people like myself who were completely mesmerized by an insane two-season series on Netflix called “The OA” that was co-produced and co-written by Brit Marling and her creative partner Zal Batmanglij that I urge you to track down when you can. It’s weirder and more difficult and far trippier than this show but these two are operating on their own wavelength and that’s what you’ve picked up on.

Best regards,

Bruce Stockler

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Re: A Murder At The End Of The World

Speaking of Brit Marling. Try watching The AO. Brit as some kind of alien/angel character.

Story is enjoyable enough, but final episiode closing minutes the most satisfying since Breaking Bad….

Alan Santos
East West Touring, Inc.

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Re: A Murder At The End Of The World

Our new Friday night show.

The Doors was welcomed – a new generation will be on their path these past days due to that moment – it must sound other worldly to new ears.

As it came on my wife impersonates me sadly as “The Doors, whoa they must have a budget to get that…”

Alan Cassidy

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Re: A Murder At The End Of The World

I am watching.  Two episodes in, and I am already enjoying watching it tangle and untangle.

Allen Scott
Another Planet Entertainment

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From: Noah Cole

Subject: Spotify Wrapped

Every year Spotify improves its wrapped feature/marketing campaign, and Apple Music subscribers can only look at our “Replays” and wish we had what Spotify subscribers are getting — loads more data, thank you from their top artists and a user-friendly format. Not only that, the information in my Apple Music Replay is *wrong* (and I’m not alone: https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/186402u/apple_musics_replay_is_out/) so I don’t even trust what Apple Music is telling me about my listening habit.  Apple is clearly capable of making great things (the new OS X Sonoma and IOS 17 look and function really well for example) but they’re continuing to let Apple Music languish.  No wonder Spotify has such a commanding lead in their race for subscribers.

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Re: Chinatown Punk Wars

I’m finally realizing why music today isn’t as good. It’s not authentic. Kurt Kobain really did hate his life and want to die. That’s why he made it happen. Johnny Rotten truly hated authority and embodied the punk movement. The hippies of the 60’s were all about peace love and happiness and it showed in their music. Tupac and Biggie represented their coasts until their deaths. When Olivia Rodrigo sings a pop punk song, it’s just imitating what was before it. When Dua Lipa sings a dance song, it’s her trying to be disco funk. Greta Van Fleet is just imitating 70’s classic rock. There’s no rock stars anymore.

All I see and hear are regurgitations of earlier iterations. And when there’s some success now, it turns into a massive sellathon. Rihanna makes it in music then goes off to hock perfume and join the billionaire class. Being an artist was rebelling. Now it’s all about conforming. Building your brand. And the music is suffering.

Danny Jay

Skip Class and The Dropouts

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Subject: Re: Simon Kirke-This Week’s Podcast

I love your politics and I’ve been avid reader for years, but I just recently started occasionally listening to some of your podcast and I have to say that the one with Simon Kirke was absolutely amazing. You ask such insightful, knowledgeable questions and Simon is such an intelligent and natural raconteur that he should probably write a book.

I think Free was one of the most incredible and influential rock bands of all time, and Bad Company was pretty great as well. Being a lifelong working guitarist myself, part of me wishes that you had talked a little bit about the amazing song on Fire and Water, “Oh I Wept” , which was a rare Paul Kossoff cowrite and maybe one of the most powerful and beautiful songs I’ve ever heard in my life, but as I said, I’m a guitar nerd so maybe it’s just me. I also would have liked to have heard Simon talk a little bit about the last Free album, “Heartbreaker”, which had some of Kossoff’s most stunning work on it even though he was severely impaired by then, and they had to bring in the great Snuffy Walden (Stray Dog -another amazing but little-known band/ successful film and television soundtrack composer) to finish it up, but like I said, I’m a bit of a guitar nerd.

Anyways, absolutely one of the best interviews with a musician I have ever heard in my life, and please keep up the amazing work you’re doing, both with your writing about music, society, the economy, and politics. Thank you….

David Resch

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From: Steve Postell

Subject: Immediate Family

Bob,

Thank you for your kind words about Denny Tedesco’s wonderful documentary. “THE IMMEDIATE FAMILY”. There were 4 guys who made me want to be in a band and write songs … The Beatles. Some years later, I watched 4 different guys on stage with James Taylor, and I knew that I also wanted to make and produce records, tour, and strive to be a musician who could contribute to a song. I would NEVER have guessed that 40 years later I would be in a band with Danny Kortchmar, Waddy Wachtel, Russ Kunkel and Leland Sklar. Denny has accomplished quite a feat, not just the documenting of a time in rock ‘n roll history, but intimately capturing what it feels like to be part of this crazy life. I know it’s a great film, because everytime we went to a screening or festival, I figured that since I’d seen it multiple times I would take a walk and return in time for the Q&A … but I never did. I got sucked into the story every time.

Steve Postell

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From: Jesse Lundy

Subject: Re: The Immediate Family Movie

We got to do a show with this band at Ardmore Music Hall in the fall of 2021.

Let me tell you that walking into the green room and seeing THOSE faces…wow. What am I going to say to THOSE guys?

I asked Waddy how he got away with playing through a full-on Marshall stack on the Main Offender tour…

“Did you ever play with Keith Richards?”

“Um, nope, haven’t done that”

“Well, he plays LOUD”

I felt like a putz, but hey.

The show was so good, and they were really great to meet. A massive honor.

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From: Charles Kennedy

Subject: Re: The WaPo OnlyFans Article

My pal who does not brilliantly edited airline reviews on YouTube makes $20,000/mo while my muso buddies think the world’s waiting for their next album and when they get $27 in royalties they think it’s Spotify’s fault

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From: Greg Thompson

Subject: Grammys/Morgan Wallen

Date: November 10, 2023

Bob thanks for writing this.
It’s truly a shame, I know Morgan and he is a good man.
He has apologized but for some reason or another it will never be good enough.
He has released two albums back to back that have been some of the most culturally significant music of the last five years.
He fills stadiums from coast to coast, and brings happiness to so many of his fans every night.
Morgan woke up a winner this morning and he’ll go to sleep a winner tonight.

Best
Greg.

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From: Aaron Lloyd Barr

Subject: Grammys/Morgan Wallen

100% thank you for writing this.

Bottom line, the double record is incredible. Makes me want to listen to country music again. Coming from a guy who spent 15 years in the nyc indie scene and now lives in LA.

Aaron

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From: Patrick Charles

Subject: Re: Grammys/Morgan Wallen

I think the problem is people trying to avoid something they aren’t sure exists.

I’m Black and honestly couldn’t care less about what he said. Make no mistake: I hate it. But what are you gonna do? Yes, white kids hear it on records and adopt the vernacular.

The real problem is the people at the Grammys who think they’re looking out for my interests. Stand by your guy. I’ll vote with my dollars. I don’t need anyone to hide him from me

Patrick,

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From: Dana John

Subject: Re: Declan McKenna At The Novo

I saw him at ACL this year and was blown away. The music has depth but the band doesn’t seem to take themselves too seriously. It was playful with substance. In a world filled with BS this guy exudes singularity and sincerity. The optimist in me thinks that you don’t have to be too cool anymore, you just have to be you. That draws attention when you are special, which he seems to be

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Subject: Re: Declan McKenna At The Novo

Glad you got turned onto him!

We have been having good success with him at college radio with the singles. They love him! Looking forward to working the LP.

Adam Lewis

Planetary Group

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From: Gunnar Larsén

Subject: Re: Declan McKenna At The Novo

Your story reminded me of a Declan McKenna anecdote: I am writing to

you from London, and as you may recall the country was in lockdown for

weeks during Covid. Everything was cancelled, including Declan

McKenna’s Brixton Academy 2020 gig in support of his then new (and

excellent) album Zeros.

Fast forward to September 2021, when doors started to open again. I

have a music-loving teenage daughter who like many struggled with

being isolated and not able to share experiences in real life with her

friends. So, when the Declan-gig finally was put on at Brixton, it was

an absolute joy to watch the fully locked-in audience sing along,

dance and enjoy a positively charming and festive night. Declan’s

somewhat extravagant persona, backed up by tight band, a decent

catalogue, confetti and mirror balls, really lit up the room and once

again demonstrated how live music, and probably only live music, can

bring a certain kind of joy to people. For that, I am grateful.

Regards,

Gunnar

London

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From: Denise Kaufman

Subject: Declan McKenna

My grandson Eli Smart went on tour this summer opening for Declan McKenna. I came along playing bass and harmonica in Eli’s band. Every venue on the tour was sold out and Declan and his band put on a high energy show every night. Isabel Torres, the guitar player you mentioned, is a wonderful musician from Portugal. The rest of the guys are British and they’re all excellent players with joyful energy. Declan and his team are also some of the kindest, good-spirited folks around. This includes his tour manager, road crew, guitar tech – everyone! We had so many good times together and you know that’s just not a given on the road. 

As you said, Declan’s fans sing along with all his songs and know every word. They were also really welcoming to Eli from the moment we got on stage even though most of them were meeting him for the first time. They were just open-hearted and trusted that anyone Declan brought with him would be someone they’d love. And they did. Some fans had family members with them (as you said – parents brought the young girls) and they loved that we had a rocking grandson/grandma as part of our band.

Declan McKenna is the real thing and the tour fortified my faith in and love for the young ones across this country. 

Denise Kaufman

www.aceofcups.com

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From: Doug Gillis

Subject: Re: Declan McKenna At The Novo

Listening to Brazil right now on YouTube, he’s very good live, has that charisma. Downloading his 2017 album now.

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From: Jon Stein

Subject: Where Are you Dave Matthews?

Date: November 22, 2023 at 7:21:24 PM PST

“It’s not the notes you play; it’s the notes you don’t play.” – Miles Davis

Dear Bob,

I am reaching out on behalf of myself, fellow Jewish professionals in the music industry (who wish to remain anonymous), and fellow Jewish Dave Matthews fans.

This past weekend at Madison Square Garden, Dave Matthews, holding back tears, spoke of video he saw of a little girl in Gaza holding out her hands and catching the rain.  He then proceeded to play his song Cry Freedom with red and green lights (likely representing the Palestinian flag) shining on the crowd.  This preceded his comments 2 weeks prior during his speech inducting Willie Nelson into the Hall Of Fame where Dave mentioned ‘countries dropping bombs on children and calling it collateral damage”.  Meanwhile, at Madison Square Garden, several Jewish fans walked out.  It matters what you say, and what you don’t say – especially when you use your platform to speak politically about the ongoing war.   Dave Matthews has a significant Jewish fanbase who currently feel alienated by him.   Social Media influencer and huge Dave-fan Lindsay Pinchuk reached out to saxophonist Jeff Coffin on Instagram asking about the green and red lights and Dave’s sympathy for Gaza.  Coffin wrote “take ur disappointment somewhere else” and then blocked her.  The next day, founding bassist Stefan Lessard posted a poignant message about sympathizing with all children.  “I ache concern for those in captivity and those stuck under falling bombs… my wish is the liberation of the hostages and the assurance of safety and brighter tomorrows for all the children in Israel and Gaza”.  Lessard’s balanced comment spread through the Jewish community; however, what is alarming is his comment clearly showed that the band has their ear to the ground and Dave knows his Jewish fans took his comment the wrong way (hopefully not the right way), but he has remained silent.  Not even a simple clarification that he cares about all children.  Therein lies the complexity of one using their platform.  Dave Matthews has alienating an enormous section of his fans. While I am sure of course Dave cares about all children, a one-sided comment perpetuates one-sided blame, which further perpetuates antisemitism.   No, Dave Matthews does not need to stand on stage and mention the details of Hamas’ October 7 attack where they beheaded and burned babies in ovens, murdered parents in front of their families, raped girls dead and alive, decapitated body parts of living civilians, paraded dead bodies through the street, and kidnapped 250 civilian hostages including women, children, and the elderly.   Could Dave have just made a general wish for peace? Could Dave have prayed for the safety of all children? If he is going to specify a child from Gaza, on stage at Madison Square Garden, should he also mention the children who were barbarically murdered or being held hostage?  Especially with so many Jewish fans in attendance. This is New York City after all!  I was moved by this comment on a Dave Matthews Instagram picture: “I was speechless when I was asked by my 11 year old at MSG 1 “who did Dave not mention Jewish kids?””.   I have been a fan for 30 years. I sadly walked out of the show, and cannot listen to Dave again until he clarifies his comment (and the green/red lights)..  Sadly, there are threads and texts of Jewish fans feeling the same way.

Where are you Dave?

Jon Stein

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Subject: Re: The Sam Harris Podcast

Date: November 14, 2023

Hey Bob, as you know, I live in Indonesia, the largest collection of Muslims on the planet. It’s not just Israel that is being “blamed” but all western corporations are being blacklisted and social media is full of nasty rhetoric the likes I have not seen in 9 years of living here . 

This is a Great Podcast and if you think Sam Harris is a little sleepy you can always run it at 1.25 speed !! 

Steve Lillywhite

https://tinyurl.com/4pfs8r4k

Are you watching this?

I’d never heard of it. But “The Week” recommended it and…

Every year on my birthday I do three things, eat a pastrami sandwich, watch a movie and have an ice cream sundae. And during lockdown I watched a movie highly recommended by “The Week” and it was a dud. So now, when the magazine tells me about something, I do research. And “A Murder at the End of the World” had an 88% rating on RottenTomatoes, so we dove in.

And immediately heard the Doors’ “The End.”

Last night I listened to Albert Brooks on Marc Maron’s podcast. Albert had a lot of interesting things to say, but what resonated most was believing no one would remember anything and you had to do what was interesting to yourself. He just couldn’t understand how people repeated themselves, how they did one successful thing and then did it over and over again until they died. That resonated. Albert also talked about this movie he was in called “The Wedding Party,” and the studio renamed it “The In-Laws” just before release and it failed. Albert told them it would be compared unfavorably to the original, and it was, it was a dud. You always need to trust the artist, the artist knows best. Oh, they’ll lead you off the cliff now and again, but they’ll be right more often than wrong. And the most iconic use of “The End,” one of the most iconic uses of a song ever, was in the opening of “Apocalypse Now.” I saw it during a one week preview at the Cinerama Dome, with surround sound, the curtain parted, the helicopter was hovering, it was amazing.

So I wouldn’t have begun my series with “The End,” because people like me would judge you negatively for it. But “Apocalypse Now” came out in 1979, nearly fifty years ago, and when I was growing up we watched old films religiously, but fifty years before was the silent era, and I saw a few of those, but mostly we concentrated on films of the thirties and forties. So have today’s generations even seen “Apocalypse Now”? The streaming generation, bingeing “Friends” and only going to the theatre to see superhero movies, if that?

And how many people were watching this show anyway, I mean you’ve got to have a subscription to Hulu. But the card before the title said “FX,” which meant it premiered on FX first? Ultimately it turned out “The Week” was right, “A Murder at the End of the World” was only on Hulu, being dripped out week by week, but I didn’t know that when I started.

So you’ve got amazing cinematography. And the scenes between Darby and Bill when they’re hunting down the serial killer…

Yes, this is a show that jumps from the past to the present, and back again. Actually, a step beyond today, it’s nearly sci-fi, and I’ve got little time for sci-fi. And in today’s episode there was some clichéd dialogue but…

Then they flashed back to yesteryear and the show was so damn good again.

It stars Emma Corrin. I’d neither heard of nor seen her. She looks like that comedian Mae Martin, and interestingly Corrin is nonbinary too. I found that out when I did research, I always do research on the shows I watch. And I found out Corrin played Diana in “The Crown,” but I don’t watch that, I found the first season so slow it was like watching paint dry. And I hear people rave about it, but there are so many shows and so little time.

And a lot of the time Emma as Darby just stares into the camera. But it works, you can feel the tension. And when she’s younger, and she’s feeling things out, her impulses, sexuality… That rang true. She had desire, yet she was self-conscious, but she took the risk and…felt she experienced rejection.

And I saw that the show was co-created by Brit Marling, who also acts in the series, and I knew her name, but I had no idea what she looked like. I know she’s a star, but this isn’t the seventies anymore, never mind the eighties, when we had a mental scorecard of every actor, knew their films, and there was a clear dividing line between highbrow film and lowbrow television. You used to follow actors from movie to movie, you looked forward to seeing them, but now… Other than the superstars, someone can be labeled a star and you’ve never heard of them. Or they can have a number one record, like that woman who performed on SNL. But don’t beat yourself up, don’t feel old, the truth is the younger people are in the same boat, there’s just so much out there that no one can know everything, no one can have a grip. So you forage, alone. Or, you can consume what’s fed to you, like the boomers who still will watch only what’s on cable, whose idea of a risk is to stream what Netflix recommends. But that’s no fun. If you’re not on a personal hejira, a personal search, you’re missing out. Even worse, you can ignore almost all of that which is hyped, like the new Dolly Parton album, a marketing exercise, dreck, listening to Dolly sing rock is like listening to Tom Waits sing country.

So I looked up Ms. Marling and the PR headshot didn’t look quite like the woman in the series, but by process of elimination, it was clear she was playing Lee.

And her husband… Creepy. It was none other than Clive Owen. Who broke through in 1998’s “Croupier,” a well-reviewed English film I saw in the theatre, back when I still paid attention to such. Here Owen plays a tech titan. And I won’t say he’s modeled on Elon Musk, but there are similarities, the calmness, the slow talk, the confidence, the belief they know everything.

And then someone dies, ergo the title, and you’re starting to think it’s “Ten Little Indians,” but there are not enough episodes to kill one character per.

So I’m driving to Santa Monica yesterday and I see a poster for “A Murder at the End of the World” on the side of a bus shelter. And Felice went for a meeting, mentioned the series, and the two people in attendance were watching it too.

How did everybody know? How did they get the memo?

And there was a story on Emma Corrin on the front page of today’s “New York Times” Arts section, but it started to talk about the plot and I thought they were spoiling it, but in truth these hype articles are all the same, i.e. hype.

So when it’s in the past, a la 2010, “A Murder at the End of the World” is like “Mindhunter.” You saw that, right, Fincher’s show on Netflix? There were only two seasons, unfortunately. But when “A Murder at the End of the World” is in Iceland, at times it resembles a seventies disaster movie.

And I’m wondering if there’s a buzz. Once again, you’ve got to have Hulu, but they’re advertising, and now I’m telling you about it.

It rides the razor’s edge, sometimes incredible, sometimes almost hokey.

But I’m watching.

1

The punk bands survived, the new wave ones did not. Which is exactly the opposite of what one would have thought back then. You’d think the more left field, the less mainstream, the shorter the lifespan. But it turned out 20/20 and the Pop and the Know and the Kats…  The list goes on and on of skinny tie bands known by all back then, but the only one that really broke through was the Knack, and everybody hated them for it. Then again, as big as “My Sharona” was, there was “Good Girls Don’t” and not a whole hell of a lot more.

So if you were paying attention back then, you knew about Madame Wong’s, you knew about the Hong Kong Café, you knew about the Masque, because the story was not only delineated in the “L.A. Weekly,” but in the L.A. “Times” too.

Oh that’s right, the Go-Go’s broke, but what you’ve got to know is they were hiding in plain sight, the “Times” kept asking why they didn’t have a record deal. It wasn’t like they were playing in Oshkosh, they were in the recording capital of the world, and no one was interested, until Miles Copeland signed them, an outsider if there ever was one.

That’s one thing that’s been lost today, the outsider, on both the business and artistic side. There used to be these larger than life figures, who seemed to bend the world to their will. They worked the record company, as opposed to vice versa, they were fierce advocates for their acts. As for the live business… There were many fiefdoms. Frank Barsalona laid a bit of structure on the business, you took this act to get that, and you didn’t poach someone else’s territory, but it was a club, based on loyalty, and acts that did poorly gave money back, nearly unheard of today, because they wanted the promoter to hire them again in the future, they didn’t want the promoter to go broke. No one gives money back to Live Nation, it’s a public company.

And the label titans came and went, except for Mo Ostin. And they were handsomely paid, but it was clear the musicians were the stars, they made more and controlled the business.

Still, many felt the business was too controlled. Had become overblown, far from the garden the Beatles nurtured.

Then came the Ramones.

Nearly completely stiff. But you were aware of them, because it was a small world, everybody was paying attention, and music was a religion in a way it is not today, you listened to the radio, bought records, went to shows and read everything you could get your hands on. You saw the first two Ramones albums in the bins, but chances are you didn’t know anybody who owned them, and they certainly didn’t play them on the radio. Actually, by time the Hong Kong Café opened its doors to punks, one can say the Ramones had changed direction. 1977’s “Rocket to Russia” had “Rockaway Beach,” which sounded more like sixties surf rock than what was being played at the Masque. And 1978’s “Road to Ruin” had a cover of “Needles and Pins,” in search of a hit. Then again, that was the same album with “I Wanna Be Sedated.”

Not that the Ramones had no impact. They talk about the loners and outcasts hearing Patti Smith and forming bands, it seemed like even more were formed in the wake of the Ramones. And they were bands, no one was sitting in their bedroom cutting a record by themselves. You had to go out for the action, you couldn’t sit at home and surf the web, there was a scene. And the scenesters were the social media influencers of the day, sans the pay. Yes, you had an identity, and you displayed it at the show, and you were seen again and again, people knew who you were, until the era passed.

So just like with the blues before, punk started in the U.S., but it really took hold in the U.K., which then fed the sound back to us. There were endless U.K. punk bands. But fashion was a component of the scene. Attitude was over the top. Whereas the punks in L.A…really seemed to be living the life. And one can say the scene died with Darby Crash. It was all a lark until it wasn’t.

And the stunning thing is how brief the window was.

2

Sure you went to the Forum to see the big acts, the shows were hyped all over KMET and KLOS, they were cultural rites. But even more you went to the clubs, to check out the new acts, you wanted to see them, needed to see them before they got big.

And there were constantly new clubs. And as “classy” as the Roxy was, as venerated as the Troubadour was, many were just holes in the wall, like Club 88, not far from where I lived. You mean bands are playing in that converted strip club? Yes. And you felt part of it. You knew what was going on even if you didn’t go, because of the ads. You saw who was playing. And there were columnists raving until you decided to partake.

Certainly after the Knack hit, major labels scooped up new wave acts. But the L.A. punk bands? They were positively independent. Their records were released by labels you never heard of before. It was an outsider system. That sustained. Tom Waits going from Asylum to Epitaph? Unfathomable. And there was SST and Slash and…

It was all very brief.

So what killed the L.A. punk scene?

You could say it was MTV in 1981. Suddenly acts were bigger than ever before, and playing live was nowhere near as important as how good your video was. Furthermore, how you looked was important. And so many of those in the punk scene were not so good-looking. They had amazing clothes, in some cases amazing legends, but no one who was part of the starmaking machinery wanted anything to do with them.

And you wondered where they all went. How they survived.

This was not Bruce Springsteen, never having a day job. Most had day jobs in order to survive. And most were not college graduates, this was their life, and when it was over, they had to find a new source of income. Phranc ultimately sold Tupperware.

And you continued to read about Phranc, she was great at getting attention, and a few were, but most of them faded into the woodwork, but some of them are in this movie.

3

I was turned off at first, because of some inaccuracies in the dates. You can say whatever you want in a movie and it becomes the authoritative document, even if it’s untrue. But if you lived through the era, oftentimes you know it was different.

But in this case I don’t want to quibble, because very soon the film locked into the truth.

Chinatown was dead. No one went there. First and foremost it was downtown, which was barren, especially after dark.

So the fact that there was music in Chinatown? Quite a novelty. Music at a Chinese restaurant?

And this was when there was no wall between the promoters and the performers and the public. Sure, the stars might have had billboards on the Strip, but everybody else was completely accessible if you went to the gig, if you hung out.

Esther Wong was always around, with a scowl on her face. And even though they pooh-pooh Wong’s West in the film, it had a pretty long run as the showcase club long after Chinatown was dead. One can’t say it was cool, but that’s where bands played, from Elvis Costello to the unknowns. That’s where I saw David Geffen checking out John Hiatt, being convinced to sign him.

And being signed was everything. You needed the money, the push. Making records was expensive, getting them distributed was nearly impossible if you weren’t with a major. That was the goal. But the punks realized they would never be accepted and did it themselves.

And the funny thing about punk is despite the closing of the venues in this movie, the music had a very long life. If you were around in the late seventies you were stunned when Nirvana became the biggest band in the land in the nineties. Whodathunk?

4

Now in truth most scenes are very short. They might be impactful, but their heyday is brief. Once again, I’d love to know where all the attendees went, those consumed with their outfits, their appearance, because without them there was no scene.

And if you were in the mosh pit you could get hurt. But most people had never heard of a mosh pit, never mind been in one. Took time for the phenomenon to spread.

Yet in truth, we haven’t had a new scene in music for a long time, since the heyday of Napster. Or maybe today there are so many scenes and none of them break through big, after all Top 40 is now a niche.

And if you’re making music today there’s a good chance you were influenced by Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera, whereas everybody in this movie knew every lick of the Beatles and Stones records. They didn’t want to emulate their heroes, they wanted to tear them down. They thought the mainstream had become too precious, that most music was bogus.

And I was actually at the Dwight Twilley gig at Madame Wong’s mentioned in the movie. Then again, I don’t remember the prank. But there were two shows that night, and I went to the early one. Got there ninety minutes before, to be close, that’s what you did.

And we all knew Dwight Twilley from “I’m on Fire.” An infectious record which I heard on KROQ.

KROQ. It was the last free-format radio station in Los Angeles. Not the KROQ of today, not Top 40 of the alternative. The signal was weak and it was a club, either you listened or you didn’t. And if you did you knew records by heart that those who never made it up the dial to 106.7 had never heard.

But that was the power of radio.

Dwight was signed by Clive Davis. But it never took. And recently Dwight Twilley died. Tragic, then again vocalist Phil Seymour, Twilley’s original partner, died at 41, of cancer, not misadventure, and unless you were around back then, unless you bought the records, and I certainly bought the first, hungering for more of that sound, you have no idea who he was.

But there was an era when the minor was major. When the scene had shifted from New York to L.A. The sunshine and the weather made it easier to schlep your equipment, to live, and tradition was nonexistent in California, you could make it up as you went.

And today you can still see the Circle Jerks. And X. They took the road less taken and it turned out to go on forever.

Unlike the clubs.

The story is here. It’s brief and interesting, well done. 

You should watch “Chinatown Punk Wars.”

Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/3772nhyv

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