Benghazi.

Hillary’s e-mails.

The stolen election.

You know exactly what I am talking about, even if you don’t know the underlying facts, because the Republican party hammered these messages every day for years, they kept them top of mind, they still want Hillary locked up, even though she’s a doting grandmother sans elected office.

Abortion?

That was last week’s news. Or maybe a couple of weeks back there. How long did abortion stay top of mind? Oh, it’s gone folks. People don’t dig deep, they hit the headlines and move on, they’re trying to cope with their own incoming, we’re all overscheduled and overwhelmed.

Back in the old days, twelve to fifteen years ago, the left controlled the internet. There were all these victory laps after Obama got elected. The lionization of nerds who ran the online campaign. Since then? Nothing. As a matter of fact, the Democrats have gone on defense, they can’t cope with the incoming, Cambridge Analytica…

This is a messaging issue folks. And if you want to change hearts and minds, if you want people riled up, if you ultimately want change, you’ve got to start at this grass roots level.

Once again, the music business is at the forefront, the canary in the coal mine.

You see there are too many acts and no universal outlet to expose them. There’s no MTV, minting stars overnight all over the world, and terrestrial radio has a fraction of the number of active listeners it had previously, no matter what bogus statistics the industry keeps proffering. So where do you go? ONLINE!

Musicians are everywhere. Labels, having realized their reluctance to license their wares hurt them at the turn of the century, are willing to license anybody who can pony up with big bucks today. They realize what looks like nowheresville today can be absolutely crushing it in a matter of months, and you’ve got to be ready, be prepared to seize the moment.

Everywhere you go online you see musicians hawking their wares.

You know where else you see this tsunami of hype, and that’s what it frequently is, false information…POLITICS! On the right, the left is way behind. Yes, every interactive platform is inundated with right wing acolytes spreading their message. Furthermore, they’ve falsely accused Facebook and Twitter of being left wing havens, when that’s not true whatsoever. Check those Facebook stats, it’s always the right wing views that are shared most.

Are you getting this? Not only do Republicans own the sphere, they gain even more power by saying they don’t!

That’s been the Twitter argument, “free speech.”

Well, in truth Twitter is not owned by the government and can do whatever it wants, it’s a private company, all the social media companies. And unlike the mall cases of yore, saying they were the public square even though they were private property, there are endless places to spew the same stuff all over online, you can even create your own platform, like Truth Social. The barrier to entry is nil. Just like in music. The mall was the only place in town, online we have Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok…never mind websites. You can get your message out. The question is whether these social media outlets have an obligation to allow you to post. OF COURSE NOT! Come on, when the shoe was on the other foot, when David Geffen dropped the Geto Boys, you didn’t see these same right wingers crying freedom of speech, and that was when the barrier to entry in the music business was so much higher!

Are you getting this? It’s a full court press, 24/7.

And what do the Democrats fight it with? A circle jerk of complaints about the heinosity of the right wing. And not only does it have no effect, it doesn’t even reach the intended targets!

Man, we’ve got to wipe the dead wood from the Democratic party.

And I’d start with Schumer and Pelosi. Both lauded as political professionals, they’ve got no idea what is going on in America today, because to know that you’ve got to be online, like youngsters, ALL THE TIME! And what do we constantly hear from left wing educated boomers? The smartphone is the DEVIL! We’ve got to limit screen time. Meanwhile, the right wing keeps populating the platforms with information and disinformation. I mean you’ve got to play to win.

AOC bitched about this. The last election cycle. How candidates have to focus their campaigns online, instead of TV and print. But the oldsters blew back. AOC is right!

Sure, older people vote in higher percentages than younger people. But who do you know under the age of 35 who even sees commercials? Youngsters don’t have cable, their computer is their television and they watch streaming services with no commercials. So these TV ads aren’t reaching them AT ALL!

But the old school reporters inured to the old game parrot the words of the out of touch ancient.

You don’t want to be too progressive. You’ve got to fight for the center, that’s the only way you can win. IS THAT HOW THE REPUBLICANS DID IT?

No, the Republicans realized first and foremost you need to stimulate your constituency, rile them up, and give them hope you can effect change. We don’t see the equivalent on the left, AND THE LEFT IS IN POWER!

Oh, we hear Democrats crying about Manchin. Well, the Republicans don’t have any problem keeping their elected officials in line. Either you get with the program or you’re ostracized. They’re trying to achieve goals, they’re taking the long view.

As for the Democrats? They’ve got no plans and are just waiting for the future to play out. I don’t recognize my country, but the Greatest Generation? They’ve never seen anything like this. Disputing election results. Conspiracy theories. Listening to Q. Taking the voting power out of the hands of the public and giving it to legislatures and elected officials. This is nuts. And what is the left wing plan? I can’t even see one!

Every week Bill Maher said that Donald Trump wouldn’t leave office quietly, he’d do his best to stay. And what did the Democrats on his program say? THAT CAN’T HAPPEN! But that’s exactly what did!

So the majority of Americans want meaningful gun control.

But what have we got? More and more states allowing open carry.

It’s like we’re living in bizarroland.

The public will get behind leaders hammering a point. As for the usual suspects on TV and in print, who can believe in those people?

It’s not like we haven’t seen this movie before, this is not our first school shooting, it’s not our first rodeo. But all the Democrats can do is say they can’t do anything. To the point where their constituency is completely demoralized.

You want change?

You’ve got to keep the story alive. And today you do that online. And it’s only going to be more so, forget that b.s. about streaming services and their ads, the overwhelming majority pay. You’ve got to go WHERE THE PEOPLE ARE!

At every level.

The Republicans play the long game, fifty years of trying to get rid of Roe v. Wade. Meanwhile, along the way, abortion rights are tightening, pro-life people are surrounding clinics and killing doctors… Believe me, we’ve got the same passion on the left, if only they believed they could make a difference!

There are so many ways. The recent California law allowing individual citizens to report gun manufacturers for shirking their responsibilities. Yes, you can force gun companies to cower.

A vigil. That’s endless. We did this during the Vietnam era, reading the names of the dead.

We see this time and time again in music. The biggest bands have ARMIES! Remember the KISS Army? And Lady Gaga’s Little Monsters? And BTS fans? Cross them, say something negative about their beloved, and they’ll track you down and inundate you with hate, over something you wrote/said about a musical act! But do we have these equivalents in politics? Oh yes, on the right, but not the left. If I write anything political I immediately get e-mail from those on the right, they’re the first ones in, and they keep at it, no matter what. The left? They respond later, if at all. They’re asleep at the wheel.

Hollywood has been completely disrupted, it’s not business as usual. And you know what the cause of that was? THE INTERNET!

And 4G/LTE allowed new apps to appear, like Uber.

But when it comes down to Democratic politics…IT’S THE SAME AS IT EVER WAS! It’s like the internet didn’t even happen.

So if you’re a Democrat, I’ve got to tell you, you’re the lobster, you’re the frog, you’re already in the pot and the water is beginning to boil. But since you’re not yet cooked you believe everything’s groovy. BUT IT’S NOT!

What did James Carville so famously say? IT’S THE ECONOMY, STUPID!

And he was and still is completely right, everybody in America is selfish, they’re watching their money first and foremost and want more. Yes, the right is famous for fighting culture wars, which they ultimately lose, but they know it’s not truly about culture, it’s about winning elections. Which they are very very good at, whatever it takes.

IT’S THE INTERNET STUPID!

Go on Reddit. Find those OnlyFans women. That’s right, sex sells and they want some of that cash. So what do they do? They cross post! They don’t post in only one category, but any one they even remotely qualify for. And they post each and every day! Frequently multiple times a day!

That’s what YouTube and Instagram “influencers” do too.

Democratic politicians? How do they expect to influence anybody if they don’t even play. You decide on your message and hammer it everywhere each and every day, to the point it becomes conventional wisdom, like Biden has dementia, can’t put two sentences together, and has accomplished nothing in office. THAT’S COMPLETELY UNTRUE! But the right wing has hammered this everywhere each and every day to the point where even the left wing outlets repeat it. Like the fact that Republicans are gonna win big next November. Where’s the campaign to say the opposite? Oh, that’s right, the rule tells us it’s an off-year election and the other party…

Come on, that’s not a rule.

Yes, the Democrats are playing by rules that don’t even exist.

And for the right, it’s a FREE-FOR-ALL!

And the Republicans are working the angles to boot. I hate to tell you, all those professional sports teams, even college, they’re working the angles. Did you see Nick Saban accusing his competition of buying players?

But the left is afraid.

No wonder the right is winning, AND THEY’RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO WIN!

Playlist: https://spoti.fi/3NxGAyD

1

It was released fifty years ago Sunday.

The Raspberries were an AM band in an FM world. FM started on the coasts, San Francisco and New York, and by time “Go All the Way” was released every metropolis had an FM outlet. And that meant if you listened to FM you never listened to AM, unless your car only had an AM radio. But by ’72 8-tracks were invading cars, you didn’t have to listen to the dreck on AM anymore. But some still did.

I never ever heard the Raspberries on FM radio. Sure, somewhere sometime they may have gotten airplay, but the Raspberries were decidedly uncool. Not only were they an AM band, THEY WERE TOO GOOD!

Punk rock did not emerge for a few years, the first Ramones album came out in ’76, but that was a reaction to prog, to overbaked records by trained players, not against power pop, which actually had its own renaissance at the end of the decade, and ultimately became part of new wave.

But I knew the Raspberries. You couldn’t escape “Go All the Way” and the follow-ups. But I never ever bought one of their records. Why? It seemed formulaic, of the moment, disposable, when in truth it was anything but.

There was coverage in the rock press, mostly about the scratch and sniff sticker on one of their albums, but if you were cool you didn’t own Raspberries records. They were never on the bill of the show you wanted to see. And then, all of a sudden…

2

“Well I know it sounds funny

But I’m not in it for the money”

The Raspberries were getting fantastic reviews. Everywhere. From credible writers. About their 1974 album “Starting Over.”

Huh? Just as the band’s star was fading, they never had another hit long player, “Starting Over” peaked at #143, the cognoscenti were into them. It’s like they grudgingly agreed they liked all their hits and now that AM was no longer interested, they could laud the band from Ohio.

So I bought it.

Oh, to be an active record buyer in the seventies. It meant you hung out at the store, you knew every outlet in town, at one you were a regular known by name, they saved records for you. You read all the rags, had a mental shopping list and went to the store and bought four, five or six records. You needed them, they were as vital as air and water. And they were always a surprise, even the biggest albums only had a few radio tracks, you dropped the needle and went on an adventure.

Which wasn’t always satisfying. But that was part of the magic, what you thought would be great wasn’t, and what you bought on a whim became your favorite record you testified to everybody about.

And most records went unheard. To get someone to buy an album was a huge feat, to get over that threshold. And the best ways were radio and live, but it was hard to get on the radio and even harder to be seen, especially when no one wanted to pay to come.

“Well if the program director don’t pull it

Then it’s time to get back the bullet

So bring the group down to the station

You’re gonna be an overnight sensation” 

“Bullet.” This was insider language. Which the hoi polloi didn’t know, never mind having no idea there was a program director, never mind what he did.

“I’ve been tryin’ to write the lyric

Non-offensive but satiric too”

Wait a second, weren’t the Raspberries mindless AM pap, non-thinking fly-by-nights? No, the band was thinking all about it, which too many acts today do not. It’s like the formula’s been lost. I mean all you need is verse, chorus, bridge, but that’s too much for them, whereas the Raspberries had learned at the feet of the Beatles, that was the starting point for so many of the baby boomer acts.

“I fit those words to a good melody

Amazing how success has been ignoring me

So long I use my bread making demos all day

Writing in the night while in my head I hear

The record play, hear it play”

The game hasn’t changed whatsoever, everybody’s laboring in obscurity, looking for a hit. I mean you can post it on Spotify, but that doesn’t mean anybody will listen to it.

Now I’d never heard “Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)” before, I just dropped the needle on the Dual turntable and this sound came out of the speakers, this mini-symphony, an analogue to “Good Vibrations,” really, “Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)” should be in the pantheon, but it’s not. Times had changed. In 1966 AM played everything, in 1974 the playlist was much more constricted, most of the big classic rock tracks never even got played on AM radio, and the Raspberries fell between the cracks.

3

But I was a fan, I immediately bought Eric Carmen’s first solo album, I needed more. And now the public agreed, “All By Myself” was a number one record, however Eric was still relegated to the AM world. But there was more, “Never Gonna Fall in Love Again” and a song that Shaun Cassidy ultimately turned into a monster hit, “That’s Rock ‘n Roll.”

“I played at parties

Played in bars

I spent my money buyin’ new guitars

I screamed my heart out

But how I loved it

That’s rock ‘n roll”

AND IT MOST DEFINITELY WAS! Scratch a boomer in the music business, they all had an electric guitar and an amp, they all dreamed of making it big, they had bands, they were inspired by the Beatles.

“Well come on everybody

Get down and get with it

Come on everybody

Get down and get with it

Come on everybody

Get down, that’s rock ‘n roll”

A mash-up of Freddy Cannon and Jan & Dean/the Beach Boys, this is the sound of the early sixties, when rock ‘n roll infected the youth, smoothing the cleaving away from the old fogeys, the establishment.

And having proved he could do it, that he possessed the magic, knew what he was doing, Eric proceeded to produce and record his unjustly ignored masterpiece, “Boats Against the Current,” which wasn’t even available online for eons, you see it was a legendary stiff, I bought my copy as cutout, where all the disappointments came to live, if they weren’t buried, literally.

“She Did It” was a very mild hit, with its “Sail On Sailor” intro, but it was too sophisticated for most mindless listeners, this was the analogue to the Beach Boys’ “Marcella,” but Carmen could populate entire albums with this stuff, which the boys from the beach no longer could.

But the heart of the album literally comes in the heart of the album, track 5 of 8, “Love Is All That Matters.” This is late night music, majestic, in an era where corporate rock was dominating, it was akin to a late sixties production, soft and meaningful, heartfelt, almost a male Laura Nyro.

But the piece-de-resistance is the closer, “Run Away,” an eight minute opus that will pick you up and fly you away from this mortal coil, will overwhelm you with its richness. Today everything is hard, or pulling directly at your heart, whereas “Run Away” has no concessions, it’s just banking on being so damn good that it’s irresistible, and it is!

Not that anybody today will admit liking this kind of music. The black jeans and leather jacket crowd hate strings, if something can be perceived as wimpy it is buried, but “Run Away” is part of why classic rock is classic. Brings tears to my eyes listening to it. Never heard it on the radio, never heard anybody talk about it, I just played it turned up loud enough on the JBLs to take up all the space in the room.

There was one victory lap, after the subsequent albums missed the target, I’m speaking, of course, of “Hungry Eyes” from the “Dirty Dancing” soundtrack, a B movie that became a classic, unheralded at first, but a big hit in both the theatre and home video.

“I’ve been meaning to tell you

I’ve got this feeling

That won’t subside”

You might put on a tough image for the guys, but when you’re lying in bed alone at night, what goes through your mind? When you’ve got more than a crush, you’ve actually connected, all you can think is about them.

And then…

4

Nothing.

Hip-hop and the Seattle sound took over the airwaves. AM bands were relegated to the oldies stations, which now existed on FM, but didn’t play anything that wasn’t known by every member of the audience.

But I found out I wasn’t the only one who knew the magic of Eric Carmen and the Raspberries.

And then they re-formed.

That’s what you’ve got to know, so many of the acts of yore that you want to see don’t get back together and go on the road because of the economics, the venues won’t guarantee enough to meet the costs, and will oldsters show up, on a weeknight, even on a weekend?

But the Raspberries did. For a little bit more than fifteen years ago, and I was there, at the House of Blues.

You know how it is going to see these old heroes, whose records you know by heart, you’re rooting for them, urging the little engine that could to gain speed and chug along. But they rarely do. The singer’s voice is shot. The sound is a facsimile of what once was. If you know the songs you can fill in the parts, overlook the clams, but it’s just nostalgia, you leave the building feeling slightly queasy, you were there, you saw them, but you never need to see them again.

That was not the Raspberries at the House of Blues back in 2005.

And they played “Overnight Sensation (Hit Record),” along with “I Wanna Be With You,” Tonight” and Let’s Pretend,” but the finale, the final encore, was…

“Go All the Way.” Which we couldn’t believe you could say on the radio, then again, Bread had “Make It With You” a couple of years before.

But the stunning thing was the sound, that slap of Wally Bryson’s guitar, it was just like the magic coming out of that small speaker in the dash of your car. You thought that was a studio sound, you didn’t think it could be replicated live, but Bryson did.

And Eric Carmen still sounded like the guy on the record and…

This was a band.

There aren’t many bands anymore. I mean bands with big hits. They’re afraid of looking bad, they go out with supporting musicians, hard drives, it’s all a little bit fake, and you can tell. But when there are slight imperfections the sound imparts humanity, and absent that element music is just sheen, it bounces off you, it doesn’t stick.

It’s a lost art. No one practices, hones the sound to get it just right. It’s just too much work. But if you wanted a hit record in the old days, when so many people were paying attention, this is what you had to do.

I didn’t go all the way with the Raspberries in the beginning. It took a while for me to commit. Which is how so many long-lasting relationships are.

But those are the ones that stick.

“Go All the Way” live: https://bit.ly/3PIu5Co

If you could resuscitate one dead musician, who would it be?

Tune in today, May 24th, to Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.

Phone #: 844-6-VOLUME, 844-686-5863

Twitter: @lefsetz or @siriusxmvolume/#lefsetzlive

Hear the episode live on SiriusXM VOLUME: siriusxm.us/HearLefsetzLive

If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app: siriusxm.us/LefsetzLive

“Halsey Is the Latest Artist Complaining About the Music Industry’s Reliance on TikTok”: https://bit.ly/3lEKIkz

TikTok is the new MTV.

The world runs on information. And he or she or they who knows the most triumphs.

But wait you say, doesn’t the world run on relationships?

Yes. But those relationships run on information. Did you see the HBO Max series “Tokyo Vice”? I don’t recommend it. It’s too slow and not quite good enough, but it all comes down to who knows what and how they use what they know in negotiations, to secure an advantage.

But the old concentrated sources of information are no longer delivering for us. I’m not talking about the big outlets, the NYT, WaPo or WSJ, but the trade papers/magazines. Used to be the best info was from the trade press because they had access, which the hoi polloi did not. They knew the players. But they were also beholden to their advertisers, the industry itself. So to find out negative information required further research, mostly being on the phone with others.

And then “Billboard” went consumer instead of industry. And “Variety” hired insiders, but not being known for music coverage, most people never see it. And “Rolling Stone” went monthly and its news is behind a paywall and…

I just researched to see if “Variety” is behind a paywall. And finding it is not, I clicked on the publication’s “Music” tab I found a story on the same topic:

“Halsey Claims Label ‘Won’t Let Me’ Release New Song ‘Unless They Can Fake a Viral Moment on TikTok”: https://bit.ly/3MNGSl2

But I would have missed all of this if Apple News+ hadn’t featured the “Time” article in my feed. I’m paying for this information, you should too, because without it you’re a second class citizen. And while you’re at it, subscribe to the digital edition of the “New York Times,” irrelevant of your political persuasion, the U.S., if not the entire world, runs on the “New York Times.” Did you see the article about the resurgence of the clubs in Ibiza?

“Making Up for Lost Time as Ibiza’s Clubs Reopen – After more than two years of pandemic-mandated uncertainty, Europe’s nightlife industry is hoping for a return to the days before Covid-19.”: https://nyti.ms/3yREB4d

Young people are being infected with Covid at a much higher rate than oldsters, who are at a greater risk of dying from the virus. Do youngsters just not care, how will this affect the live business?

But what I’m talking about here is TikTok.

The gatekeepers are gone. Do you know what it’s like trying to sell in an era sans gatekeepers? Very hard. Much harder than in the past when you controlled what was played in the radio station (only major label records because of a legal judgment supporting indies, I know, confounding), and the relationship was even stronger at MTV.

But MTV is essentially history and terrestrial radio is a vast wasteland of oldsters and it’s young people driving the new music business and the hot place of exposure is not streaming services, although Spotify’s custom made playlists and genre playlists help (youngsters are on Spotify, active music listeners are on Spotify, much more than on Apple or Amazon, its two significant competitors), it’s TikTok.

TikTok not only grows stars, it makes them!

And conventionally musicians have signed to major labels for the check. But what they’re giving up more and more is control. Because music is a business, and the people running the labels need to make money. Mazuma always trumps art, never forget it.

So what you’ve got is the signed artists complaining, and the unsigned having a free-for-all, and TikTok can aid the labels, but they cannot generate views, which is the essence of the platform.

I know, I know, you don’t post on social media and think TikTok is the devil. Well, it’s gonna take a long time for you to break, and that’s another point, how hit music has detached from the rest of the industry, it used to be one continuous continuum, now they’re completely separate. The majors don’t want you if you’re roots-oriented, musically and/or marketing-wise, the development is too slow, they can’t get paid. So if you’re doing it independently and succeeding, that’s great, but don’t complain most people have never heard of you, that requires TikTok. Print isn’t even close. That’s right, information comes from print, but the youth don’t read, they follow trends, go where their buddies do and gain critical mass oftentimes before traditional media even knows.

So, we’ve had a complete flip from the seventies, when the artists took control from the labels. Now the label is king. You do what they say. They’re your own personal gatekeeper, as Prince said back when, you’re a slave to the company.

But the game is different now. The cycle is so much faster. And is it really about maximizing the short term or having a career? THE SHORT TERM! The label doesn’t care about your career!

And the labels are undercutting the credibility of the artists, of the whole music sphere. The Kid Laroi staging a fake feud with Scooter Braun? That’s closer to WWE than classic rock. When they asked for people who would do anything to make it, they didn’t mean this, they meant dedication to your craft and working 24/7, not manipulating the audience with falsehoods.

So if you go viral on TikTok you can blow up, even though you were hiding in plain sight, even if the label had marketed your track years ago. That’s the story with Glass Animals. And of course there’s the Fleetwood Mac/cranberry juice story. The Mac video was spontaneous, but the labels would like more control, they’d rather circumvent the process by paying people, but ultimately the audience is in control, and there are essentially unlimited offerings. The music business is always a harbinger of what comes next in not only media, but the general marketplace. Your competitor is not the usual suspect corporation, but some individual maybe in the middle of nowhere using the new tools to put a spin on the item you didn’t foresee. You have to constantly reinvent yourself, or have a monopoly, and even then you’ve got to have your eyes attuned to both the rearview mirror and the future.

Will the artists win this battle against their labels?

Note, Capitol didn’t say Halsey was wrong.

But history tells us protesting against the entity paying you beaucoup bucks never works. As for consumers, it’s only a hard core attuned to your plight, and one thing we’ve seen over and over again, especially with the Tidal launch, is no one has sympathy for wealthy musicians complaining about their income.

Food for thought.