Never was so much spent on so little.

You rise to the occasion. Getting the gig is one thing, delivering is another. And it’s not as simple as performing, art is all about conception, and the Weeknd seems to have ceded his entire production to third parties and in the process lost control of his art. It was almost like we still live in the pre-internet era, when MTV ruled and if you didn’t spend money and dance you couldn’t make an impact, but those days are through. Contrary to mainstream disinformation this decade is about the niches, the triumphs away from the Spotify Top 50. Never has music been a bigger tent.

Name recognition. That’s why you play the Super Bowl. It’s not so much a notch in your belt as a step in growing your fan base. Usually tickets go on sale right after the performance, striking when the iron is hot, but there are no shows now and the Weeknd wasted his opportunity, in one flash he made the rest of the world outside the music industry bubble realize how big he is, but he didn’t come close to closing them, at best you could shrug. My inbox is filling up with those who were non-plussed and disappointed, how could this travesty be presented? Sure, football is a spectacle, and music can be too, but oftentimes the bigger you make it the smaller it becomes, whereas that which is tiny and precious triumphs. Like H.E.R.’s rendition of “America the Beautiful.”

Most people have no idea who she is. But she sang the song like she owned it, like she’d written it, and it wasn’t only her vocal, it was her guitar-playing that wowed and made you pay attention, her performance stuck with you as the game progressed, a game hobbled by penalties…thank god there are no penalties in music, music is about being pure, distilling it all to an uncompromised essence, like H.E.R. did tonight.

We’ve gotten too far from the garden. We’ve become focused on stars as opposed to music. Money rules and it cannot be contradicted. If someone is successful you can’t criticize them. I think it’s ridiculous that the Weeknd wasn’t nominated in the big Grammy categories, but I can’t say his music is memorable, that it moves the needle, never mind the football, especially when he started working with producers-du-jour who homogenized his sound, sawed off the edges in pursuit of consumption. Yes, the Weeknd is now safe.

We want to be wowed, we want to take notice, we want to be able to tell everybody about it, we want to FEEL SOMETHING!

That’s one thing that separates human beings from other species, we have feelings. And we live to be touched, otherwise it’s just drudgery. And sure, one can be moved by athletic performance, but not as much as music, which when done right comes from the soul and transfers the message, the feeling, into the listener. I can try to explain H.E.R.’s magic, but it can’t compete with what I felt, like I’d been remiss in not paying her much attention previously, that not only was she talented, she played like she owned the place. That’s how Prince owned the Super Bowl, he was bequeathing his music, his material, to everybody watching, both in the stands and on TV. Can you remember who competed, never mind who won? OF COURSE NOT! Can you remember the production? NOT REALLY! All you remember is Prince wailing on the guitar and reaching you in a  way no one else ever has in this setting, you had no choice but to take notice.

Funny that America’s game is hobbled by penalties. This is why soccer, the rest of the world’s football, is superior. It’s just like life, make too many rules and people become dispirited and innovation wanes. But if you set people free you’ll be amazed what they’ll do.

And H.E.R. was set free tonight.

So expect further travesties at halftime at the Super Bowl. Bigger and better. But intimate is what really triumphs these days. It’s the key to social media, the more money you put into it the fewer the rewards. We want to see YOU, not the trappings. Which is why you can spend a fortune on a music video and it still stiffs in the marketplace, because that paradigm hasn’t really mattered since PSY, and that was years ago.

And Lil Nas X triumphed on TikTok. And it was the song that generated the videos. The public embraced it and expanded upon it. People want to be engrossed and participate, in the twenty first century watching is oftentimes not enough.

So you can play the Super Bowl and everybody knows your name, but it may not drive up your business, it may even backfire on you, as it did with Maroon 5. Just showing up is not enough, Just giving a performance is not enough. We’re not looking for lights and lasers, we’re not looking for dancing and production, we’re looking to you…are you real or are you affected, do you have credibility or have you sold out, are you doing it their way or your way?

H.E.R. did it her way tonight. She sprinted far beyond the Weeknd. This one appearance will pay dividends. People have a good feeling about Gabriella Wilson, they’re tuned in and want more. Watching Abel Tesfaye tonight you winced, you wanted to change the channel, and if you continued to watch you wanted it to get better, but it only got worse, especially with all the dancing fools at the end.

When we strike the production and effects, when it’s just you on stage, it is quickly revealed whether you have it or not. In truth we’re rooting for you, because so few have it. H.E.R. obviously practiced, she paid her dues, she was confident, you could see all her experience, all her talent in a couple of minutes. Let her be a beacon, if you want to triumph in music, if you want to have a long career, follow H.E.R., not the Weeknd.

https://bit.ly/36SiPOR

What kind of crazy, fucked-up world do we live in where Liz Cheney stands up for truth, justice and the American Way?

“‘People in the (Republican) party are mistaken. They believe that BLM and Antifa were behind what happened here at the Capitol, that’s just simply not the case. It’s not true. And we’re going to have a lot of work we have to do. People have been lied to,’ the congresswoman said.”

One in which groupthink and fear have come to dominate the American way of life. America used to stand for the rugged individual, now it’s for the cowering lemming afraid they’ll be excommunicated for displaying thoughts that are not concomitant with what the group thinks. And god forbid you make a mistake, then you’re canceled. Who came up with this policy? One strike and you’re out, imagine if that applied to you, and we all make mistakes.

It’s bigger than political parties. Say something negative about a pop act and that act’s fans will inundate you with hate. Kinda funny how with all this talk about bullying it happens online constantly. And you’re supposed to appeal to some theoretical referee to right the wrong but one doesn’t exist, what you need to do is stand your ground and speak your truth, but too many were brought up in a world where their parents complained to the authorities to quash behavior, and this just doesn’t work in the real world. In the real world you either have to remain silent or fight back, neither of which get any cred in society at large. In America you’re supposed to accept the punches as punishment, for violating the policies of the the group, and if you fight back, no one comes to your rescue. Come on, you can’t find a single man to weigh in when one of their brethren is canceled, when it comes to a discussion of women’s rights. And there can’t be a reasonable result without a conversation, so they’re afraid. And true discussion, if there is any, goes underground.

I am not condoning heinous behavior. I am not condoning sexual abuse. But too often today if someone wants to get into the nuances, analyze the issues, they’re booted off stage by a plethora of heckling, they’re supposed to get back down in the hole they came from.

And too often the baby boomers are responsible. Believing their parents raised them improperly, they did their best to coddle their children, the millennials, going to bat for them AGAINST the teacher, complaining to the administration whenever Mallory or Phineas got in trouble. Furthermore, millennials’ strongest desire is to be a member of the group. That is paramount. They all got trophies, no one is better than another, hogwash. We are not all alike, isn’t that one of the great features of America, that you can be different and be accepted? At least that’s the way it used to be.

“‘The extent to which the president, President Trump, for months leading up to January 6th, spread the notion that the election had been stolen or that the election was rigged was a lie.'”

Truth. It’s gone out the window. If it doesn’t fit your agenda, ignore it, or deny it. The big story these past three months is how Fox has moved rightward because its audience was being stolen by Newsmax. So let me get this straight… If ignorant lemmings listen to the false spewings of ignoramuses you’re supposed to abandon truth and get on board? In what world does this work? But ratings and money are everything. And even Fox is a team. Shephard Smith was hassled to the point where he jumped ship. But at least give him credit for standing up for truth for all those years before he did. It’s hard to resist the mob, it’s hard to be a party of one. But, once again, this is what America was based upon.

I really don’t understand this. When I grew up it was clear who were the winners and losers. In sports, in school… But now under the aegis of togetherness, we’ve thrown out the statistics, competition is eviscerated in the name of harmony. In what era of history has this worked? There are superior people in all walks of life. Some are better athletically, some are better intellectually, and as Bob Dylan so famously sang:

“Now, each of us has his own special gift

And you know this was meant to be true

And if you don’t underestimate me

I won’t underestimate you”

Truly, no one is better than anybody else. The key is to find out what you’re good at and pursue that, not to try to convince yourself that you’re good at everything, equal to others in that pursuit.

But the truth is we now revere cash. And life is so hard that people who might have pursued their dream do not.

A good example of this is Amor Towles. Who has written the lauded and successful books “Rules of Civility” and “A Gentleman in Moscow.” Even though his teachers told him he should pursue a career in writing, he worked for decades in banking, because you know mazuma is the highest calling in America. But it’s the arts that give us insight and direction. But now all the artists are in pursuit of cash so that’s history. And since everybody was brought up believing they could do everything they believe they can become a famous rapper or pop star, why not? Forget paying your dues, forget practicing. You were told from a young age you were special and you could do anything so…WHY NOT?

And people are confronted with this day in and day out. Work at the corporation and the number one criterion is getting along, it’s more important than the work you do. Don’t hang out, spend your time at your desk trying to push the envelope and chances are you’ll be ostracized and excised. This is another reason old corporations fail… Once they’ve become established they’re taken over by MBAs and bean counters, there’s no American exceptionalism left, only the running of a machine until it sputters, usually as a result of a third party disrupter. You’ve got to deliver quarterly profits, that’s more important than innovation, more important than the future. And isn’t it funny how the biggest tech corporations in America haven’t run that way. They brought in a manger at Google, Eric Schmidt, AND THEN THEY KICKED HIM OUT! Turns out so many of these techies don’t need adult supervision. Case in point, Mark Zuckerberg. You may hate him, but you can’t argue with his success, talk about making the stock rise… Zuckerberg has always pivoted and invested, unlike staid American companies. Yes, Zuckerberg paid zillions for WhatsApp and Instagram, do you think a conventional manager would have signed off on those purchases? No way! And Zuckerberg knew where the ball was going and went there while most people were ignorant.

Like Daniel Ek, who single-handedly save the recorded music business and has gotten shit for it ever since. Talk to the labels, they LOVE Spotify! But artists and ignorant writers and politicians don’t stop excoriating Spotify and Ek, they won’t be happy until the company is busted, gives all the cash to performers, especially the ones without listens. Who said you were entitled to be an artist? Who said you were entitled to make money at it? Those boomer parents once again? Hell, when I was brought up it was instilled in me that you had to be great to make it in show business. Artists went their own way, they were always different, not only in music. Then again, that’s when you could make a living in so many artistic pursuits that you cannot now. Then again, the winds of change blow and if your goal is to calcify the landscape, freeze institutions, paralyze progress, you’re heading for death. It always makes my head spin when people rail against streaming music when they can make their work for free on a laptop, promote it for free online and distribute it almost for free on streaming services. Don’t they get it? In the old world they wouldn’t even have gotten a chance to play, the doors would have been closed, costs would have been prohibitive. Then again, no one knows history anymore. And you’re proud of your ignorance. Yes, Trump paid fealty to you and the elites are the problem. Elites do cause problems, but the day we denigrate education is the day our nation becomes a second class citizen in the world. Then again, that has happened! After Trump European countries are wary of the U.S., looking to it for leadership, falling in line behind America.

“‘We will not forget what happened on January 6th. And that the single greatest threat to our republic is a president who would put his own self-interest above the Constitution, above the national interest.'”

Liz Cheney might have said this, but this ethos left the planet after the sixties. Now it’s all about self-interest, even if it causes problems for others. As a matter of fact, it’s the lower classes who are the most charitable, that’s been statistically proven. So some billionaire gives away a micron of his fortune, why doesn’t he pay more taxes! Oh, that’s right, because the government will waste it and government is bad. So, let me see…you want a nation without roads and dams where the rich get even richer? That’s been one of the pandemic stories, how the wealth of the super-rich has skyrocketed. Not only Jeff Bezos, but those invested in the stock market. Meanwhile, most people own no stock. As for the Redditors and GameStop…they may have been ignorant, they may have ultimately lost, but one thing they knew for sure was Wall Street is rigged, against them, and that’s true.

“‘We’ve had a situation where President Trump claimed for months that the election was stolen and then apparently set about to do everything he could to steal it himself..”

Even high-ranking Democrats don’t put it so directly, for fear of Republican blowback. Yes, Trump tried to steal the election himself. But since nearly half of the country doesn’t believe this, you can’t say it. This is how far we’ve fallen, we must adjust the game to play to morons, or the woefully uninformed. As for the educated like Cruz playing to these people…his own party doesn’t call out this behavior, because it aligns with the team, and it’s all hogwash anyway, it’s not about Trump, it’s about laying the groundwork so he can ultimately become president, god forbid, self-interest rearing its ugly head once again.

But Rand Paul comes out and says there’s no way Trump will be convicted in the Senate. But that begs the question…what does a president have to do to be impeached and convicted? Trump tries to steal an election and foments an insurrection and that’s okay? And if some Democrats had fallen in the process, that would have been fine too, as long as the Republicans remained intact. But, the mob was going after Pence…isn’t this akin to what Martin Niemoller said?

“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

The team doesn’t need you, everybody is expendable. You think you’re integral, that you count, but the truth is you don’t, everybody can be sacrificed to achieve the team’s goal. And Liz Cheney realizes this and draws a line in the sand, says she won’t take it anymore.

This all was said in conversation with Chris Wallace on Fox News today. But go to foxnews.com and you have to scroll down deeply to find it. Fox is burying its own story. Because it doesn’t align with what its viewers think. Maybe you do that in entertainment, but not news.

But the truth is playing to the audience permeates all walks of life. In music, acts give people more of what they’ve already consumed. Go to a major label and tell them you’re different and it will take time to develop and spread the word and they’re not interested. Same deal with the film business, so busy making movies that will play around the world that it left real life stories, smaller stories, to television, which is eating the movie business’s lunch. And streaming outlets don’t control the artists like they do on networks and conventional channels. Netflix makes a rich deal with Shonda Rhimes, essentially giving her a blank check to do it her way. And her first project, “Bridgerton,” is a raging success. The artist always know best. They don’t always get it right, but they’re the ones who hit the home runs. And it turns out the people are only interested in home runs, this philosophy has changed the fabric of baseball, and everyone is afraid to undercut it for fear fans will abandon the game, meanwhile the game gets further and further away from its essence, almost becomes a caricature of itself. Used to be Home Run Derby was once a year, just before the All Star Game, now it’s 162 games a year, never mind the playoffs and World Series.

So, confronted with slings and arrows, from not only her party in Wyoming, but the national party in Congress, Cheney not only stood her ground, she barked back. She’s not worried about her individual future, she’s worried about what’s right, about the nation at large. Therefore, she’s a beacon, she evidences a spirit this country hasn’t had since 1969, truly. We used to count on artists for this. But today if you’ve got a profile, artists are afraid to stand up and take a side for fear they might alienate a potential customer. But play to all and you ultimately play to none. You shave off all the edges such that your creation is ephemeral, it does not have deep impact and it disappears.

We are looking for people to stand up and speak to our hearts and minds with truth. We’ve gotten so far from that mantra as to live in scary times. And of course the internet is at fault, but the only way we get out of this mess is through us, people. Yes, the machines are not going to save us, only we can save us. But we need leaders. Forward movement, putting a dent in the universe, is not a popularity contest. Come on, ever notice someone is hated until they are loved? That’s because most people can’t understand what they’re doing. But that was also when people were confident enough in their identities and beliefs to put it all on the line. Liz Cheney might lose her next election. Or, it might turn out there are a lot more silent believers than vocal nitwits. But she is willing to sacrifice her own personal interests for the greater good. What a concept! We need more of this.

And you thought corporations and money held all the power.

For far too long in America we’ve been told that the rich are knowledgeable and powerful and our only hope is to try and imitate them in their capitalistic ways.

This came along with income inequality. To anyone who lived through the sixties…today’s landscape is incomprehensible. The sixties philosophy was love your brother, today’s philosophy is pee on your brother. Yes, Reagan legitimized greed and ever since people have gone for it. One of the worst examples is musicians. Musicians used to be considered artists, who spoke truth to power, who weren’t in it for the money, but to make  a statement. Turns out anybody with intellect today avoids the arts, because it’s no better than a casino, and enters the business world, to our national cultural detriment. All we’ve got is money-grubbers, just the way the rich like it. Come on, the goal in music is to sell out! To get endorsement deals, to play privates… Standing up to these people? That’s unfathomable, everybody wants to be these people, when the truth is you just can’t make that kind of money in music, but you do have a lot of power, if you choose to exercise it.

In case Navalny is off your radar, he was a dissident poisoned by Putin who was treated in Germany, but then returned to Russia. Talk about balls! Americans are all about excuses…someone else did it, it’s not my fault, let me off the hook. There’s little personal responsibility. Everybody lies, everybody cheats, so why not me? Our values are screwed up. As for religious institutions… The preachers live lavish lifestyles and are caught breaking the law and in addition, these “believers” want to dominate choice as a result of their religion, and not only biologically. Betsy DeVos was all about religious schools. But where are the underlying values of the Bible that everybody says they read, that they quote all the time, turns out the religious too often hate instead of love.

And if you’ve got no money, you’re seen as irrelevant. But this is patently wrong. Never underestimate the power of one.

This used to be the American spirit, its mantra, the rugged individual, the unrestrained cowboy who does it his way. You don’t see that here anymore. As for those bubbling up online…they’re all mercenaries, trying to sell, sell, sell…message is either nonexistent or vacant.

So, yesterday in court Navalny made his statement. The “New York Times” printed it in full in the Op-Ed pages, and you have to read it: 

“Vladimir the Poisoner of Underpants – It’s the duty of every person to defy you'”: https://nyti.ms/2YJH6Ca

But since it’s in the “New York Times,” at least half the country won’t read it, even though it’s just Navalny’s words, with no edits. Why does the right hate the “Times” so much? BECAUSE IT PRINTS THE TRUTH AND TRIES ITS HARDEST TO BE UNBIASED!

There, I said it. Is the “New York Times” flawed? Absolutely. But we’re all flawed. Do you see Fox apologizing when it gets it wrong? No way! But the “Times” does this on a regular basis. And forget opinion, when it comes to the news there’s no better outlet.

But the right doesn’t want the truth. It’s the right that has truly brainwashed its constituents, to vote against their own interests, to hate truth, to believe that Trump won the presidency.

Did you catch today’s Fox story?

“Voting technology company Smartmatic files $2.7 billion lawsuit against Fox News, Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell over ‘disinformation campaign'”: https://cnn.it/2MqTogx

You won’t find this story on Fox News, it doesn’t appear, I just checked. The “Times” gets sued and prints it, but the “fair and balanced” (a term no longer used for obvious reasons) outlet does not.

Smartmatic is hitting them where it hurts, the pocket book. And Smartmatic’s case is nearly lock tight. After all, when threatened Fox corrected its false news, but the message didn’t get through and Smartmatic was hurt.

But Smartmatic is not only interested in compensation, it wants to make a point. This is how you fight in today’s world, you get the enemy on the front page, you hash out the issues!

Now Putin’s approval rating is at an all time low, it has shrunk from 36% to 20% in a year. And it appears the screw is now turning, that Putin is on the run:

“Aleksei Navalny Is Resisting Putin, and Winning – The opposition leader was sentenced to prison, but he has mobilized a vast movement that’s not done growing”: https://nyti.ms/3oJ2Rgc

This is not a big enough story in America. Because most people haven’t been anywhere and don’t care about the rest of the world, to their detriment. And Trump never criticized Putin, he lauded Putin!

To tell you the truth, I’ve been able to relax a bit, it’s back to business as usual a bit, I’m not thinking about the news all the damn time. Biden and his team are competent and they’re taking swift action in the right direction, he’s trying to turn the ship around, even better than anybody could have hoped for.

First and foremost Biden has jettisoned the conciliatory policy of the Obama era. This is why I’m not 100% positive on St. Obama. Afraid of pissing someone off, Obama constantly tried to appease the right, which constantly stonewalled. Everybody knew it, but he kept on trying. Biden and his team are not doing this. They’ve got the votes, as Obama had for his first two years, and they’re taking no prisoners. You don’t play to un-American nincompoops who are trying to destroy this country.

Yes, pay attention, Republicans are trying right now to make voting harder. Like Trump said, if everybody votes the Republicans can’t win.

But Biden is not enough. America needs to be remade.

Let’s start with the election process itself, the ridiculous Electoral College. Or the Senate, where North Dakota gets as many seats as California. The right keeps clinging to the Constitution that the framers would even agree was and certainly is imperfect.

But we’ve got no one leading the charge. And we’re constantly told to get inside the system if we want change, but sometimes the system itself needs to be changed. As for the Democrats…too many of its constituents are told to be quiet, that compromise is key, when they are starving and their economic opportunities are low.

We need Mr. Smith in Washington. But we haven’t had that spirit here since 1969! Truly!

And while Navalny is fighting for freedom in Russia, Trump and his cronies are fighting for fascism in America. If that does not spin your head, I don’t know what will. At this late date I still have people e-mailing me that the election was stolen, that Trump really won. And they quote discredited information, but in their bubble it’s put forth as true!

But screw politics. There’s a bigger issue at work here.

The power of one.

One person can make a difference, can move mountains, can change people’s perceptions, can alter the course of history. But in America we’ve been taught we’re powerless without money and connections when this is patently untrue! Never mind that if you don’t have money you are not respected, never mind paid attention to.

But you must be telling the truth. You can’t be compromised. And the powers-that-be do their best to silence you. Because you threaten them. Because business is based on relationships and illegalities and they don’t want them exposed. THIS IS HOW THE RICH LIKE IT!

And they keep telling us how good it is.

And too many Americans are nitwits, who think that not having to work and living on a tropical island is happiness. IT’S NOT!

Ray Davies sang that unemployment was unenjoyment. We need a purpose, we need a personal higher calling, otherwise life is meaningless. All this veneration of partying… Sure, everybody likes to cut loose now and again, but every night? Do you know any of these people? I do. Their lives are scaringly empty, they hang with their brethren elite where life is about getting loaded and being ridiculous. I pity them.

But there cannot be unions because stockholder value is the greatest goal, and the company might not make as much.

It all comes down to values. And America is morally bankrupt.

You can make a difference. You truly can. And even if you don’t want to lead, you can follow in the footsteps of those who do. Don’t let anyone ever tell you you’re powerless. They just want to keep you in line or have had their optimism eviscerated by too many defeats.

It comes down to message, not marketing. It comes down to credibility. It comes down to truth. These are not only the building blocks of society, they’re the building blocks of art! Come on, try and find modern artists who tick all these boxes. They’re few and far between. Meanwhile, the system, the agents, the studios, the labels, have a separate agenda, they just want to sell sell sell when sometimes you’ve got to say no, you’ve got to leave some money on the table.

Pay attention to Navalny. He’s putting his life on the line, literally. He’s standing up and making a difference. Where are these uncompromised people in America?

Steve Lillywhite checks in all the way from Jakarta, where he runs the largest music label for KFC, I kid you not! We delve into Steve’s production of U2, Peter Gabriel, the Rolling Stones, Dave Matthews, Thompson Twins and more. But in addition to the stories you’ll be captivated by the insight! Steve is quite the raconteur and if you want to know how a famous music producer makes records, this is the place!

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/steve-lillywhite/id1316200737?i=1000507699311

https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/The-Bob-Lefsetz-Podcast