September 4, 1970

GET YER YA-YA’S OUT!

The Rolling Stones

Incredible reviews, a disappointing listen.

“Live at Leeds” came out earlier in the year and was instantly labeled the greatest live album ever…assuming you don’t care about crowd noise, because there was none. You got plenty of crowd noise on “Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out,” but what was surprising was how rough the band was.

The Stones were mostly seen as a singles act prior to “Beggars Banquet.” But even though that album contains “Sympathy for the Devil,” there was such a bad taste in the public’s mouth after “Their Satanic Majesties Request” that there was not instant mass adoption of what was considered a masterpiece then and now. Furthermore, it was earthy as opposed to in your face, as if the Stones had licked their wounds and were making an album for themselves, in a studio cut off from the world of stardom.

HOWEVER, “Let It Bleed” began the sales juggernaut. There were no singles, but if you purchased the album you were wowed. It was slick where “Beggars Banquet” was rough. But as big as it was… Not every ticket was sold for the fall ’69 tour of America. The mania didn’t really start until the spring of ’71, when “Sticky Fingers” came out and “Brown Sugar” was ubiquitous. But in between those two albums we got this live LP.

Now at this point, there’s an extended version with a ton more tracks available on streaming services. But if you focus on the original ten cuts…it’s the two Chuck Berry covers that stick out, most especially “Carol,” however “Little Queenie” is pretty good. There’s a cool descending riff in the instrumental section of “Sympathy for the Devil” and “Honky Tonk Women” was okay, but this was the kind of album you bought and played, waiting for its greatness to be revealed, and when it wasn’t, you didn’t play it a hell of a lot more.

Now the truth is the Stones have always been rough live, sans hard drives more of a bar band that eventually locks into the groove. But having said that, they’re presently playing better than they ever have. Next time through you should go, because we are getting to the point where this could truly be the last time.

September 14, 1970

UNTITLED

The Byrds

Great reviews, but Crosby was gone and was part of the CSNY juggernaut and Gene Clark and Michael Clarke and Chris Hillman were gone too. This was more of a Roger McGuinn solo album. But the band did feature Clarence White, whom insiders knew, but was only truly appreciated after his tragic death.

However, this is the album that contains “Chestnut Mare.”

Yet only one person in my dorm owned this two LP set and we can say that ultimately McGuinn and the Byrds had trouble transitioning from the sixties into the seventies.

September 18, 1970

KILN HOUSE

Fleetwood Mac

The first post Peter Green album. They were a cult item in the U.S. but you did hear “Station Man” on the radio, and I always loved it.

Of course “Station Man”‘s magic was enhanced by Christine McVie’s vocal, even though she was not yet an official member of the group.

Fleetwood Mac built up a presence, especially with “Heroes Are Hard to Find,” but no one would be talking about them today if the group didn’t reconstitute itself with Stevie and Lindsey thereafter.

September 18, 1970

PARANOID

Black Sabbath

At the time the band was considered sludge rubbish by the cognoscenti and didn’t get much radio play. This was a band that was ultimately built by the fans, who heard the music and spread the word. But at this point, the word had not spread too far. It wasn’t like the band didn’t exist, you were aware that “Paranoid” had come out, but all the critics, who still had power, especially in a world where you had limited funds and could not hear most records without buying them, said no and most abstained, at this point anyway.

September 19, 1970

PERFORMANCE

I bought this soundtrack LP for “Memo from Turner,” featuring Ry Cooder’s slide.

That’s how it was back then, certain tracks were rare and you bought the albums to be able to hear them.

As good as “Memo from Turner” was and still is…the rest of the album didn’t require more than one or two listens.

September 19, 1970

AFTER THE GOLD RUSH

Neil Young

I bought it the day it came out because that’s how much I loved the highlights of “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere,” most especially “Down by the River.”

But “After the Gold Rush” was different. More subtle.

The country affect of “Tell Me Why”…most rock listeners had not cottoned to this sound, despite “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” and the Burritos…but they dropped the needle on the first side and came to know it.

When Neil sang “the 1970s” in the title track it was akin to an act naming your hometown from the stage. You have no idea of the weirdness of 1970. Never mind Kent State, this was a new decade. The sixties were over. What did the future portend? Turned out a licking of one’s wounds and a return to the land, and this album was a perfect soundtrack for that.

No one ever talks about the brief side closers, “Till the Morning Comes” and “Cripple Creek Ferry,” but they are killers.

But my favorite track was second on the second side, “Don’t Let It Bring You Down,” fantastic.

But really, as time went by, what I played most came two tracks later, “When You Dance I Can Really Love,” which truly rocked. The antithesis of the mellowness of so much of the album.

I vacillate between saying the debut or “After the Gold Rush” is better. “After the Gold Rush” is more consistent, but the intro of “Emperor of Wyoming” sets the debut in its own environment, far from the city. And then comes “The Loner” and “I’ve Been Waiting for You”…FOR SUCH A LONG TIME! And you have no idea what it was like to hear “The Last Trip to Tulsa” on underground FM radio for the very first time.

P.S. As big as “Southern Man” was, it truly became legendary when Lynyrd Skynyrd referenced it in “Sweet Home Alabama.”

September 23, 1970

ABRAXAS

Santana

Eagerly anticipated after the Woodstock movie, this album was a huge seller and is still the best thing Santana has ever done. Most people did not know that the single “Black Magic Woman” was originally a Fleetwood Mac song, and the cover of “Oye Cómo Va” is definitive, but really it’s the quieter numbers that create such a unique listening experience, like the opener “Singing Winds, Crying Beasts” and “Incident at Neshabur.” Having said that, my favorite tracks are those of Gregg Rolie on the second side, most especially “Mother’s Daughter” and “Hope You’re Feeling Better.” “Abraxas” truly stands the test of time.

September 23, 1970

IDLEWILD SOUTH

The Allman Brothers

Almost no one knew who the Allman Brothers were unless they’d seen them live. The original album is great, but it suffered from Adrian Barber’s production, it lacked a certain zing. However, the debut did contain “Trouble No More” and “Dreams” and the original five minute version of “Whipping Post.”

If you heard “Idlewild South” on the radio at all, they played the cheery opening track, “Revival,” which truly wasn’t representative of the rest of the album, never mind the band. “Idlewild South” started to gain traction at the end of 1970 into the beginning of 1971, once you heard “Midnight Rider” and “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” you were a fan. As for everybody else…

Bill Graham made the Allmans the closing act at the Fillmore East, which is like…I can’t think of an adequate comparison. A band that plays theatres at best getting the best slot. And then came “Fillmore East” in the summer. But really, most people, the average citizen, didn’t get into the Allman Brothers until “Brothers and Sisters” and “Ramblin’ Man.”

As for the title… The airport had been called Kennedy for years by this point, the use of “Idlewild” was retro and notable.

P.S. In 1973, after the Allmans had left their mark, Atlantic released “Beginnings,” comprised of the two initial albums, that’s how much they were ignored/unknown. But I didn’t realize until this very moment that Tom Dowd remixed the debut for this package.

September 25, 1970

BEAUCOUPS OF BLUES

Ringo Starr

A ton of press, you’d see it in the bins, but I don’t know a single person who bought it. To this day I’m not sure I’ve heard it.

September 25, 1970

MAD SHADOWS

Mott the Hoople

All the hype was about the first album and its instrumental cover of “You Really Got Me.” When that failed commercially, the following three albums, which are viewed positively today might as well not have come out…did you know anybody who purchased them when they were released?

September 30, 1970

JOHNNY WINTER AND

Johnny Winter

Johnny Winter had tons of hype and the public didn’t buy it. There was not a specific track that drew people in and… It’s hard to perceive the era if you weren’t there. Music dominated the culture, press was important, you could hype something but that did not mean it sold. But after two Columbia albums, Johnny Winter formed a band with Rick Derringer, who brought along “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo,” which the public could understand with one listen, which they got, because radio played it consistently. Johnny didn’t return to his blues roots fully until later, after a few hit rock albums.

September 30, 1970

RUNT

Todd Rundgren

A veritable unknown, Todd was the mastermind behind Nazz, but although he wrote the songs, it was Stewkey who sang the slowed down original version of “Hello It’s Me.”

After the failure of that band Todd began a career behind the console and ultimately showed up as the engineer of the Band’s third album, “Stage Fright,” which was astounding if you were a fan.

Managed by Albert Grossman, Todd got the right to record a solo album. However, Grossman’s label Bearsville was distributed by Ampex, which felt it could diversify into the record business. Ultimately it couldn’t. In time Bearsville made a deal with Warner Bros., but before that Todd put out two LPs with Ampex and they were almost universally unavailable. In fact, you couldn’t truly buy them until they were dumped as cut-outs when Ampex failed. Which is how I bought this album and the second, “The Ballad of Todd Rundgren,” which to this day most people have never heard, even though it is Todd’s best work.

As for Todd’s solo debut…

There were two versions and the whole thing was an abortion. However, “Runt” did contain “We Gotta Get You a Woman.” Despite the rewriting of history, the truth was “We Gotta Get You a Woman,” despite being a fantastic track, was not anywhere close to a hit, you were lucky if you even heard it on the radio once.

As for the rest of the album? More than listenable, some quasi-memorable tracks, but the sound was thin and the stuff that came out thereafter was far superior. But if you’re interested in the history, where Todd came from…

Meanwhile, we couldn’t believe that Soupy Sales’s kids were the rhythm section, we thought they were a joke, this legitimized them.

“KPop Demon Hunters” is #1 on both the Global and USA charts.

However, Bad Bunny’s “DeBi TiRAR Más FOToS” is #2 globally, but only #8 in the USA.

Morgan Wallen’s “I’m the Problem” is #2 in the USA and #5 globally. Used to be that American country music didn’t translate overseas, this is no longer true. However, Wallen is the only country artist in either Top 50, so…maybe he’s just a phenomenon, an outlier, but what a success!

Laufey’s “”A Matter of Time” is #17 globally, but #3 in the USA. This is astounding, not only because Laufey is Icelandic, but Laufey has only had two songs on the American chart, and both were Christmas tunes and one went to #89 and the other to #56. Then again, in truth this album just came out on August 22nd. But it has not been forgotten by listeners. They didn’t check it out and move on, they continued to listen. This is akin to the old days, the truly old days, the sixties and seventies, when an artist who didn’t sound like anybody else could carve out their own niche. And the funny thing is it’s not even on a major label, it was released by AWAL…then again, at this point AWAL is part of Sony.

Deftones’ “private music” is #46 globally and #14 domestically. Pretty amazing for a band whose first album came out THIRTY YEARS AGO! Sure, the album came out on August 22nd, but the band is playing stadiums and very occasionally an act would have a hit single years later, but usually with the help of a current artist, and it was usually just about the single, the album did not sell in prodigious numbers. Would Deftones be as big if it weren’t for the internet, where all their music is available 24/7 around the world, able to be discovered and played by new fans? This proves you don’t need Spotify Top 50 hits to be a successful artist. Furthermore, “private music” sounds nothing like anything in the Spotify Top 50. Everybody’s chasing hits yet here a career act with hard core fans is triumphing doing it their own way.

Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” is #13 domestically, even though it came out in 2022! This would be impossible in the old days. Once radio stopped playing the singles, the album stopped selling. But people love Kahan and keep streaming his music and this is what new acts have to compete with, stars with established fan bases. Best to start off slow and find your way with authentic music and hope to get lucky as time goes by than polish a written by committee single that might stream but doesn’t generate a dedicated fan base. Furthermore, the lyrics of “Stick Season” are personal and not always positive. Kahan is breaking all the rules and continuing to triumph.

Billie Eilish’s “Hit Me Hard and Soft” is #6 globally and #23 domestically. Are streams higher internationally because she was on tour over there? Tours drive streams.

Beéle’s “BORONDO” is #7 internationally. He doesn’t chart domestically. He’s Colombian. Not only is Latin music a big market, it’s bigger than ever because it can be listened to with a click around the world.

Fuerza Regida may have a Spanish name, but they’re from San Bernardino. Their album “111xpantia” is #10 internationally. And this does not represent the burst of streams of a recent release, this album came out on May 2nd, it’s got staying power. The album is #30 in the U.S.

“Mi Vida Mi Muerte” by Neton Vega is #21 internationally. He’s a Mexican artist, but he’s playing as far north as Jones Beach. The same album is #41 domestically.

Mexican artist Junior H’s “$ad Boyz 4 Life II” is #28 internationally and #42 domestically.

No one may want Katy Perry’s new albums, but 2012’s “Teenage Dream” is #40 internationally, it’s not on the USA chart. Katy did four Mexican dates in April and two Australian dates at the beginning of June… So international touring is not driving these streams.

Mexican rapper Tito Double P’s  “Incómodo” is #43 internationally. It doesn’t chart in the Top 50 domestically. The music is released by the Orchard via Sony.

Mexican urban music star Victor Mendivil’s “Tutankamon” is #45 internationally, it’s not in the domestic Top 50. He has no Wikipedia page. The music is distributed via Downtown…and you wonder why the majors are buying up the indie distributors…they’re the ones with all the breaking talent! The majors can’t find new hit music, never mind sign it and promote it. They rely on people who are in the weeds, who make deals that are far from rich.

Morgan Wallen’s 2023 album “One Thing at a Time” is #9 domestically. Wallen has two albums in the Top Ten, Taylor Swift only one, #6’s “Tortured Poets Department.” However, “Folklore” is #15, “Lover” is #26, “Midnights” is #35 and “reputation” is #36. Morgan Wallen’s “Dangerous: The Double Album” is #20.

“Hamilton” is #22 domestically. I guess it doesn’t translate overseas. However, one must note the album came out TEN YEARS AGO!

“Rumours” is #19 domestically and #33 internationally.

Arctic Monkeys’ “AM” is #22 internationally. It came out in 2013. In the days of physical retail, most stores would not have even stocked it. But today, the great records of the past never die.

Christian artist Forrest Frank’s 2024 album “Child of God” is #47. It came out in 2024, “Child of God II” came out in May. Both are distributed by Warner.

Hozier’s 2014 self-titled debut is #34 domestically. Welcome to the modern world where your original work can overshadow your newer music.

The Marías 2024 album “Submarine” is #25 domestically. They sing in English and Spanish, as for the style of music…can I say it’s all over the place? (In a good way!) This is on Atlantic, but the contract pre-dates Elliott Grainge’s tenure. The deal is through producer Ricky Reed’s Nice Life, which also has Lizzo and Pussy Riot as well as Tinashe, but the latter is distributed by RCA.

Is everything. If you can’t buy it, it doesn’t matter how good it is.

I bought something on Amazon. My usual seller was out, so I opted for a competitor and when the merchandise arrived, the packaging was different. And in this case the packaging is key. So I decided to return it. Which is easy, you go online, click a few boxes drop it off at Whole Foods and…

Before I left the house I decided to do some research. Turns out they don’t make that packaging anymore. Now this is interesting. One person complained and an entire industry redid its packaging to make it less convenient, people are going crazy online. But in this case, I’m expecting a change in the future, because we now live in Trump’s America. He’s alienating our allies, RFJ, Jr. is making the nation unsafe, but I’ve got to give him credit, he’s getting rid of B.S. Stuff that makes no sense. That is adjusted for a small minority instead of the vast majority.

So then I decided to go on a mission. To CVS. The internet told me they still had the old packaging. And if they did I could go to multiple CVS’s and buy up enough inventory to carry me through to the point when the law is changed and the industry goes back to the old packaging.

I never go to a retail store. It’s the world’s worst experience.

This is what I don’t understand about oldsters, they cling to the past when it’s history. Today everything is about CONVENIENCE! Youngsters know this. They want what they want and they want it NOW! And any friction in the works is not only frustrating, they refuse to participate.

Like the movie business. Theatrical is never coming back. This year’s summer gross was essentially flat, down just a bit, never mind the inflated prices. It’s a bad proposition. I’ve got to leave my house and bake in enough time for parking and ticket buying to make sure I get there when the movie starts. And having done this, I then have to sit and watch endless trailers/commercials… I’m PAYING, why are you insulting your best customers?

Then again, I can’t remember the last time I went to the movies.

So I drive down to CVS and…

Everything you’ve heard is true. Everything valuable is locked in a case. But it’s worse than that, THEY NEVER HAVE WHAT YOU WANT!

And they didn’t. But I had to pick up a prescription for Felice. So I got into line and…

This very large woman was talking on her cellphone on speaker. Is this a new thing? I was at the hospital waiting for an infusion and the woman next to me was doing this. I asked her to hold the phone to her ear and you’d think I’d asked for a kidney. Can I at least have a modicum of peace and quiet?

And then when I was next in line, the previous customer decided to reorganize her purse before sacrificing the window. I ultimately asked her to move. I know, I know, bad behavior. But I’ve got places to go and people to see.

That’s what nobody talks about, we got all this time back during lockdown/Covid and we don’t want to give it back. Medical appointments are virtual. We have more time to work and we don’t want to sacrifice it. Don’t love your work? I feel sorry for you.

As for what I was looking for, I was SOL. That old packaging was history, not to be found.

So then I drove to another CVS. The layout was different. I started looking for the item and when I didn’t find it soon I looked for help. THERE WAS NONE! This is the physical retail experience we’re supposed to adore and pay for? Utterly ridiculous.

I ultimately found where the item I wanted was shelved and they were out of both the new packaging and the old, it was like someone had ransacked the place.

Meanwhile, it’s a zillion degrees out. The A/C in my car works well, but I was driving in the hills yesterday and the thermometer in the dash said 102 and… In the old days, my 2002 couldn’t handle it. The temperature gauge would start to rise and then not only did you have to turn off the A/C, you had to turn on the heat to cool down the engine.

But not only is it hot, the light is different. It’s September 1st. Back to school, but the hottest days in L.A. are not in June and July, but the end of August and September.

So I ultimately decided to punt and make the new packaging work, what option did I have, and I thought how great Amazon was.

HUH? AMAZON’S THE DEVIL!

This makes me insane, people fighting convenience. Like Spotify. All of the world’s music at your fingertips and you can take it anywhere? Why in the hell would you want physical product?

Not that Amazon is perfect. You run the gauntlet every time you try to buy something. You’ve got to sift through the ads. I mean give me a break, it’s a horrible experience, can you get rid of these?

But if you’ve got Prime, and I don’t know how you cannot, the item usually comes the next day, if not the SAME DAY!

But it’s better than that, they have EVERYTHING! Every product, every size, at if not the lowest price, close to it. You find it, you click on it and it arrives. What could be better?

But NO, the same people protesting in the street believing that anybody is paying attention think if they just don’t buy from Amazon…

This is a failed strategy, because the service is so good and there’s not a real alternative. They stopped drinking Bud Light, but that did not mean they stopped drinking beer!

And now my inbox is going to go wild with the Trumpers. I’ve got to ask you… These companies that left China for India, now that’s not an option. The doors are closing on our society minute by minute, all in the name of AMERICA FIRST! It reminds me of that old Harold Lloyd movie, AMERICA LAST! Actions have consequences.

Never mind the fact that homicides are greater in red cities yet the military goes to blue ones.

But the truth doesn’t matter.

You’re supposed to be courteous when everybody feels entitled. Drives me nuts.

This is the world we live in. Who is happy?

That’s what it comes down to. The friction in society is rampant and we keep hearing from oldsters, who hold the reins, that we should adhere to the old ways because they’re better. HUH? Where in the hell is that the truth?

I’ve got no time for Jeff Bezos, but if you’re buying a retail item…why in the hell would you go to a physical outlet? There’s no help and they don’t have what you’re looking for. And the solution for most retailers is to cut, cut, cut and make the experience WORSE!

This is how the “New York Times” ended up owning national news. They refused to circle the drain. And they added Wirecutter and the Athletic and games and cooking and…

So you don’t like the “Times”… That’s not the point!

Everybody in America is so tribal that they can’t pull back and see the forest for the trees.

Meanwhile, “Consumer Reports” thought it owned the sphere and now Wirecutter is stealing the old outlet’s thunder. How? Constant reviews! Not once a month, but consistently. To the point where that’s where you go.

Disruption is not done. And it won’t be done until the Boomers and Gen-X’ers invested in the old ways retire and die off. They can’t get over how things used to be. And some of the old things were better, but on the whole the new stuff is far superior.

If I hear one more person complaining about chatbots causing suicide… Yeah, these were well-adjusted people who just got pulled into a hole. If you believe that, you’re delusional. Just like if you believe AI is going to dominate in the future you’re not using it. The hallucinations/mistakes are SO bad as to make the answers unreliable.

But then there are people turning off Google AI because copyright holders are not being paid. This is just like the Amazon protesters. The truth is that in many cases, AI search is good enough, has made the search experience much better. When I need tech help it gives me just enough to get by. If I have to get names and locations right I go deeper, but a lot of search doesn’t require anything deeper.

We live in meme-world and the truth becomes irrelevant, and it’s not only politics. Like the dotcom era. You could deliver a Fudgsicle for free? Can we employ a little common sense?

You want to see the present, never mind the future, start with convenience. If there’s an easier way to do it, that’s how the flow is gonna go. And sure, make sure exactly who you’re Zelling money to, but those afraid to cough up their credit cards online because of potential fraud are the same ones still writing paper checks, which are RAMPANT with fraud.

But it doesn’t feel that way. This is the world we now live in, emotions are king, facts are irrelevant.

And then there are the endless complaints. Spotify is ripping off artists, Vail Resorts is ripping off skiers. Skiing has never been cheaper. It’s astoundingly cheap. But you’ve got to hate on the big boy…

Which is why I stay home so much. Because you interact with the public and you want to tear your hair out.

And I haven’t got much left!

1

I watched it.

I’ve been flummoxed by the ticket sales for festivals headlined by pop acts. For a boomer who grew up on the Beatles and the ensuing classic rock, this is unfathomable. Pop was the enemy. No there there. We dug our teeth into “artists,” people who honed their skills, wrote their own songs and testified about their lives. They broke apart musical structure, were all about exploration. It was a bonanza of styles. And in order to sell tickets in prodigious numbers you had to have this background and credibility, you could not be a construct of the man, you had to STAND FOR SOMETHING!

No more.

Now the music business is the hit business. And no one questions it.

Which is how it was before underground FM radio in the sixties, but we didn’t really return to a pop world until MTV, which created a monoculture. And then younger generations had no frame of reference. If you grew up on Mariah Carey, what were the odds you were going to form a band like the Doors? Never mind Black Sabbath.

Now heavy metal/active rock has sustained by being off-center. It abhors the mainstream, for a long time the acts were anti-streaming. It’s about the downtrodden expressing their anger. This is not Def Leppard produced by Mutt Lange creating earworms one step removed from the Beach Boys, nor even AC/DC and its thunderous riffs, no today’s metal is more about the noise, the raw emotion, and if you don’t have great vocal chops it doesn’t matter. But this metal is a backwater. It cannot spread. Because if you too are not an angry outlier you cannot relate.

But at least there’s a culture in today’s metal.

Now the culture of classic rock was based on a clear dividing line between performer and audience. They were on stage, you were not. You yearned for access, which you could never attain. The band dripped out info, oftentimes cryptically, in interviews and news squibs. The image was one of a fabulous life of drugs and alcohol, women and sex. Didn’t they call it “sex, drugs and rock and roll”? No more.

The rock acts wanted what the pop acts had. The exposure, the opportunities to sell out, the hits that generated cash and ticket sales. But in the process they sacrificed their credibility. With the spandex, etc. The rock acts became a joke. So we ended up living in a pop world 24/7. And even hip-hop merged with pop. It was about the hit. And even Huntrix in “KPop Demon Hunters” writes a diss track. This is the world we live in.

So at first I didn’t understand “KPop Demon Hunters,” the phenomenon. But if you watch the entire flick it becomes clear.

But one thing is evident straight from the start. They’ve pulled back the curtain on stardom, they assume the audience knows the game.

Like the private jet. Who knew what transpired on the seventies Starship, the jet the superstars leased. We believed drugs and debauchery, but we didn’t really know. And then cellphone cameras came along and killed the rock lifestyle. Act badly and video would hit the internet. You had to pull your punches. Furthermore, mistreatment of women was a taboo… You had to be worried about public perception of your antics. But in “KPop Demon Hunters,” like today’s pop world, everything is right up front for you to see and pick apart. There is no mystery.

And the fans are more than bodies in the seats. They’re active participants.

If you watch “KPop Demon Hunters,” you’re dying to go to a show. It’s the best advertisement for live gigs I’ve ever seen. To be one of the screaming masses in the stadium, just to be there, part of the throng? THAT’S IT! A boomer will say you’re too far away, they don’t like being in a sea of humanity, but that’s the attraction for young fans. That’s the culture. Being at one with the act, bonding to them and believing in them.

This is the essence of KPop.

As for the music?

IT’S POP!

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Now if you’re aware of KPop, you know it’s based on identity and story. Culture. It’s much more than the music. The music is just the glue to keep the entire enterprise together. If you were conscious during Beatlemania, you know that everybody had their favorite Beatle. You did not have your favorite member of Led Zeppelin, that was something different. But you have you favorite member of a KPop act, who has a backstory, which they feed. Everything’s on the table.

But not everybody cares. This is also genius. Rather than playing to everybody, they’re playing to a niche, but that niche is huge and can sustain them. KPop is more palatable than today’s metal, but it’s not for everybody. But having said that, “KPop Demon Hunters” has some catchy songs.

Most specifically “Soda Pop.” Give the creators credit, this is hooky. The hooks in the rock of yore were the riffs, other elements that wannabes are no longer able to create. Listen to those Beatle records, they were FULL of hooks. Bridges. All kinds of “tricks” to hook the audience.

And it’s not only “Soda Pop,” but “Golden” and “Your Idol” and…

In truth, this is not a new formula. Hit movie generates hit records. But with the internet we can see evidence of this success. It’s right up front. At this very second, “KPop Demon Hunters” has four songs in the Spotify Top 50, and it would have more if Sabrina Carpenter hadn’t just released her new album on Friday. Most of the Carpenter tracks will fade soon, some will sustain, but “KPop Demon Hunters”? It’s an unending juggernaut. The song of the summer, assuming you believe in that lame construct, is “Golden,” but the arbiters can’t fathom this, they didn’t watch the movie, how can it be so popular? And don’t think it’s only in the U.S. The Global Top 50 has FIVE “KPop Demon Hunters” songs. And Sabrina Carpenter is evident, but she doesn’t dominate. For all the ink about Carpenter, the real money is in “KPop Demon Hunters,” it’s a true worldwide phenomenon, and we now exist in a global business, with streaming providing everything to everybody all over the world.

As for the music itself… Sure, it’s cartoon characters, but one of the most surprising and fulfilling elements of the movie is when the curtain is pulled back after the action is over and they go to real life, showing the actual people recording the songs, singing their hearts out and having fun in a way too many front line performers are not. Everybody’s so into their image, their brand, these are just women in a studio…

Soon to sell out stadiums, but that’s another chapter. Yes, the tour is being baked right now.

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So we’ve got the elements of modern society right up front, the essence of being a fan, and the music, but those are not enough to sustain a movie, to make it legendary.

Actually, I was watching it and didn’t get it.

But then, there’s a romance. Straight out of “Seventeen” magazine. If you’re a young girl, it rings your bell. And although the animation is not up to Pixar levels, the love interests are beautiful and you get it. And the romantic thread plays throughout the rest of the movie.

And then there’s the war between good and evil.

Let’s be clear, these are Disney-type demons. Did you know the Mouse House has put out FOUR “Zombies” movies? Believe me, these are not the zombies from “Night of the Living Dead,” never mind “The Walking Dead.” They’re just forces of evil. Like the demons in this film. They’re bad, but they’re not scary.

Now if you want to go deeper, you can talk about the theme of being your real self, and that’s a factor, but really “KPop Demon Hunters” rests on the romance and the push and pull between good and bad. And those make a movie.

Yes, you’ve got a relatively traditional story laid on top of KPop. Once again, with everything up front and personal, nothing behind a curtain like in the classic rock days.

So where does this leave us?

Well, in music, the hit business is all pop. There is an alternative business, and it’s pretty large, but it does not cross over, nor does most of it deserve to cross over, it’s just not that good. It feeds the audience, the fans, but if you think Jesse Welles is going to be in the Spotify Top 50 you think that he’s equal to Bob Dylan, and he’s not anywhere near the Bobster’s league. Dylan had many covers before he broke through on the radio with “Like a Rolling Stone.” Unlike Welles, who’s not for everybody, more of a one trick pony.

Sure, so much of today’s hit country music is paint-by-numbers dreck. But not everybody in the Americana world deserves mass attention. Then again, Chris Stapleton is a superstar, illustrating that when you’ve got the goods, people know it and clamor to it. Then again, Stapleton is forty seven and writes and sings and plays.

And if you don’t write your own material, you’re inherently less believable. Of course there are exceptions, but this was the essence of classic rock, directly from the artist’s heart into yours. Trying to ensure a hit, the labels have squeezed out this element, with covers and writing by committee and insisting on co-writers. You might end up with something catchy that is even a hit, but you won’t end up with a classic. Like these tunes from “KPop Demon Hunters,” they’ve got no lasting power, they’re akin to New Kids on the Block. They’re for now.

So…

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Beatlemania, classic rock, are in the rearview mirror. Swiftmania is real, but it cannot hold a candle to Beatlemania, which affected the entire world, everybody…made people pick up guitars and also pick apart the music, whereas Swift’s new album is made with Max Martin (and Shellback), who only needs an act to front the sound, he can create the hits all by his lonesome.

But this is what the audience expects. Which is why music is a second class citizen. Believe me, you want to go to the gig. Music will never die. But driving the culture? “KPop Demon Hunters” is a phenomenon, but it’s not evidence of lasting culture, unless you consider KPop lasting culture, which is sub-Disney stuff at best.

There’s plenty of money in this stuff, but don’t try and convince us it matters, that it’s great, that it speaks to underlying issues and changes hearts and minds. If anything, most people today seem to go to the show like lemmings. Brainless. There to see and dance to pop songs while they hang with their buddies and shoot selfies. Everybody in the business is congratulating themselves but there’s no there there. I won’t say it’s equivalent to Kodak before digital photography, but the analogy applies. There’s this belief that the public will be satiated by empty calories forever. Ariana Grande? A child star with a good voice? Even Ricky Nelson had more gravitas, never mind making better music.

Then again, it’s easy to disrupt music, with the means of production and distribution in the hands of the proletariat. However, today’s younger generations have no models, like we did in the classic rock era. And they want success right up front, when it comes slower than ever because of noise in the channel. Their goal is to become a brand. Whereas the acts of yore just wanted to make music, do drugs and get laid. They hoped there was money in it, but for so many when the mania was done there was none.

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As for the movie…

This proves the power of Netflix. The business is caught up in data. Weekly grosses. Like the irrelevant “Billboard” charts, manipulated to satisfy the retro players. It’s always been about mindshare. To really win you need everybody to partake, to see or listen. As for leaving money on the table… God, the dough from “KPop Demon Hunters” is just beginning…there’s the music, the tour, the sequel.

And unlike superhero movies, “KPop Demon Hunters” does not assume you have a wealth of knowledge, you can go in blind and still get it.

As for the brevity of success of films/series on Netflix… This is what the studios and streamers who drip episodes out week by week don’t get. EVERYTHING is evanescent. Shoot someone today, it’s forgotten tomorrow. Memes come and go quickly. Why should it be any different in movies? You strike when the iron is hot, when people are interested they need to be able to partake of it all, to become part of the culture. As for the hoopla in the press… The last I checked more people had seen “Adolescence” than “White Lotus,” it’s just if you’re baked into the old system you think otherwise because of all the old school press.

The world has changed.

If someone had pitched me the idea of “KPop Demon Hunters” would I have known it would be a gargantuan worldwide success? No. The line between success and failure in movies is a knife edge, and if you’re on the wrong side you’ve got a stiff. And the funny thing is the more you play it safe, the more you’re ensuring a stiff. You’ve got to hang it all out there. The audience can tell. The same way they can tell that “KPop Demon Hunters” was made for THEM! Not for critics. Not for anybody but the young people who will buy this stuff.

Do you need to watch “KPop Demon Hunters”?

Only if you’re interested in a business lesson.

And if you start, hang in there, it gets better.

But it’s not for you. And that’s cool.

But it’s for somebody. And those people are rabid for it. They watch it again and again, go to the theatre to sing along. That’s the passion you’re trying to generate. If you’re playing to everybody you can’t achieve this. If you’re afraid of risks you can’t succeed.

“KPop Demon Hunters” is an incredible success. It’s a cash generator. Kudos.

But if you think it’s one step forward for music…

You’ve got no ears.

And no perception.

You think a dollar today is better than thinking about a dollar ten years from now. You studied business in college, not the liberal arts. Or you’re nobody from nowhere who believes they deserve to be a success at age twelve.

Want to see real creativity?

Go on TikTok.

But the same people who are not watching “KPop Demon Hunters” are not scrolling there either.

And either you’re in on the joke, you can see the landscape, or you can’t.

There’s definitely a lot here. And to a degree it’s clear. But if you’re looking at the present through the past’s glasses…

You’re lost.