Re: The Go-Go’s Movie

Bob,

You make some good observations, as usual. But also as usual, there’s a lot more to the story. Richard Gottehrer was the perfect producer, and had the foresight to make a classic album in terms of production. When a Go-Go’s song is heard in 2020 there’s no telltale gated snare drum or cheesy synths to date it right back to 1981. More than anything, he agreed to make the album for $40k, which was the entirety of the budget. When we went over, he kicked in his own money to finish. And Mike Chapman did want to produce the Go-Go’s when we had access to the sort of budget he’d require, and signed on for a 4th album. But we were already on fire—and not in the good way.

And Our Lips are Sealed, I agree, what a perfect song. Never tire of playing it. Released June 12, 1981—but it took 6 months, until the week of Dec 12 to get to #20, where it stayed for a little over a week before heading down. Kudos to IRS and Michael Plen in particular who didn’t give up and worked that single without all the clout and money other labels could throw behind a record.

Starting in August, MTV added the video. So while MTV certainly played a big part in breaking the band, beaming a bunch of cool, fun gals into peoples living rooms—there were so many other working pieces.
Namely the 5 of us. We never stopped. Day in, day out, press, phoners, radio, sound check, show. Every single town we played, we visited the radio stations, smiled and took pics, did their station IDs and answered the questions and yukked it up at the morning jock jokes.
And when playlist adds from big radio program directors were announced in that Quarterback Flash or whatever it was called each Friday, nada. No Go-Go’s.

College DJs played the single, DJs at big stations with some power to slip in a few singles of their own choosing, like Oedipus in Boston for one example—they played a role in us being heard. A November Saturday Night Live appearance catapulted us, even though we were half blotto in the performance. Opening for the Police in arenas helped us, just like Miles Copeland knew it would.

But there was also the timing. The timing always plays a part! The magic part. It’s just a synchronicity. In1981 the recession was just getting started, AIDS too, as well as Iran-Contra. There was an unease and uncertainty for a lot of people in this country, that things might be getting bad, and the Go-Go’s were uplifting. The right band at the right time.

Lucky for us, we had another strong single to follow up “Our Lips Are Sealed.” And after that, “Vacation” pushed the band down the road a little further.

And just as all those elements were relevant and important to the success, there was no big single reason it fell apart. I think you can put all the “usual suspect” reasons of substance & alcohol abuse, rampant egos, and income inequality, under one big umbrella of just being immature, undeveloped humans without much capacity for communicating or compassion. Oh well.

I’ve gotten close to a hundred of messages, emails, texts and phone calls since the Go-Go’s film aired on Showtime. It’s amazing to me what a wide swath of reactions I’m hearing. People wistful, people who didn’t know the back story. People inspired, people proud to have been there, people who want to tell me what the band meant to them. People who gripe about what was left out. People from similar heyday bands that got triggered being reminded of a band in-fighting. People who noticed things that shouldn’t have gotten past QC. It’s been mind-blowing.

I really like that you point out that the fact we were women wasn’t a cause for the difficulties. I get sick of that tired old catfighting bitchy trope, and always point out all the guys in bands who have similar issues. From Creedence to Guns n Roses, it’s hard to be in a band. But what makes the Go-Go’s endurance special is that we always, no matter what, overcome grudges, resentments, betrayals, hurts and disagreements.
And it’s not to cash in on the “oldies circuit.”

It’s because there is a bond that was forged by growing up together all while experiencing something extraordinary.

We (the present day Go-Go’s) don’t expect to have hits. And anyone in their 60’s realizes that chasing relevance might be time better spent nurturing contentment. But everyone wants to be recognized for their contributions, and we did contribute. We always knew we did. We’ve heard it all along, from adults who found inspiration, solace and hope when they were kids and adolescents seeing the Go-Go’s. We’ve heard it from a litany of musicians and artists that surprised even us.
I hope the film brings some of the respect and recognition that has eluded this band!

Kathy Valentine

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Subject: Buffett here-not Warren

Hey Bob

How are you? Just read your piece on Mac, and I too know that Mississippi shy boy thing is not fake. Also as a fellow Mississippian, but from the bayous of Pascagoula, not the “nawth” part of the stage, I just wanted you to take comfort in the fact, that those of us from Mississippi, still can’t figure it out. As you might know, I have been a shameless promoter of Mac for a long time, and really wanted to thank you for the portrait you paint of one of the most talented writers and solo performers that I have ever met, who also happens to be one of my closest friends. That is why I chased him down and made him join the Coral Reefer Band. If I am Captain Kirk, then Mac is Spock, and Mike Utley is Dr McCoy, as we travel the musical universe together. I have to confess, I have not heard a single song on the album yet, because Mac hasn’t sent me one ha ha. I guess I better order one on Mailboat and sit back and dig it like you did, as the hurricane passes over Sag Harbor this afternoon. I will be in the studio to listen to the vinyl ref of “Life on the Flip Side” and will dove tail right into Mac’s. Then I can talk about it after listening to it, if you need me too. Stay safe and I will be back in LA for a week at the end of September, and will check in with you then, and maybe we can grab a covid cocktail.

Fins Up

Jimmy

Spotify

Pandora

Playlist:

“Follow The Yellow Brick Road” – The Munchkins – 1939 – “The Wizard of Oz”

“Itsy-Bitsy-Teeny-Weeny-Yellow-Polka-Dot Bikini” – Bryan Hyland – summer 1960

“The Yellow Rose Of Texas” – Mitch Miller – 1955- in “Giant” in ’56

“She Wore A Yellow Ribbon” – traditional
(“Sing Along With Mitch” album from 1958 – “You Are My Sunshine,” “Down By The Old Mill Stream,” “I’ve Been Working On The Railroad,” “Don’t Fence Me In”)
Movie -theme song – 1949 with John Wayne

“Yellow Submarine” – ’66

“Mellow Yellow” – Donovan – October ’66 in U.S.

“Yellow Balloon” – Jan & Dean – 1967

“Yellow Balloon” – “Yellow Balloon” (included Don Grady – Mouseketeer, “My Three Sons”)

“Yellow Man” – Randy Newman – 2nd album, “12 Songs,” one with “Mama Told Me Not To Come”

“Big Yellow Taxi” – 1970 – “Ladies of the Canyon”

“Tie A Yellow Ribbon ‘Round the Old Oak Tree” – ’73-Tony Orlando & Dawn ’81 – Iran Hostage Crisis

“Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” – October ’73

“Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow” – Frank Zappa – ’74 album “Apostrophe” (Album after “Over-Nite Sensation” with “Montana” and “Camarillo Brillo” -Now on DiscReet records

“Yellow” – Coldplay – 2000

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Note – This is an hour long show, so I can not include EVERY yellow song.

For example, I could not include the following in the broadcast:

“Green, Yellow and Red” – John Kilzer – 88

“Yellow Ledbetter” – Pearl Jam – 92 flip side of “Jeremy”

“Black And Yellow” – Wiz Khalifa- (2011 – “Rolling Papers” album)

“Yellow Flicker Beat” – 2014 – Lorde – “Hunger Games”

“Yellow Bird” – Pretty Lights

“Purple, Yellow, Red And Blue” – Portugal. The Man -2013

“Bodak Yellow” – Cardi B – 2017

“Yellow Is The Color of Her Eyes” – Soccer Mommy-2019 (about mother with a terminal illness)

The above are from my notes I assembled while constructing the show.
Just so you know.

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

Hear the episode live on SiriusXM VOLUME: HearLefsetzLive

If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app: LefsetzLive

Once In A Lifetime – Spotify

Once In A Lifetime – YouTube

It’s really hard to write a hit song. I’m not talking about one that tops the chart, but one that grabs the listener and won’t let go, that makes you feel good every time you hear it.

I’m a fan of this guy. Primarily because of his 1983 LP on Geffen, “Nothing But The Truth.” At that point Geffen put out very few records, after the label’s initial splash it was relatively cold, carried by Quarterflash and other acts lost to the sands of time. But then they signed a country act?

Well, that was the pitch, but the truth is “Nothing But The Truth” is closer to a singer-songwriter LP from the seventies than country, but Mac is definitely country, he hails from Mississippi, a state northerners still don’t understand, still don’t know is just a stone’s throw from Graceland.

The radio track on “Nothing But The Truth” was “Minimum Love,” and it actually got some traction, but it was generic whereas the rest of the cuts on the LP were more specific, kinda like “Doctor My Eyes” from the first Jackson Browne LP. But the killer cut is the title track.

We were skippin’ the pages in the bookstore baby when I realized we hit the skids
I got a book about contraceptives and you got a book about kids

These are not the lyrics you hear over the air, but they’re the ones experienced by people all over the world every day. Are your interests aligned? Are you working towards marriage and kids or should you break it up, is someone gonna jump ship.

I was knockin’ around in the grocery store baby on the night of the last election

“Nothin’ But The Truth” is wistful. Reserved. Someone who’s had a lot of experience and is testifying as to their truth. And every four years the above line goes through my brain, whenever there’s an election, funny how music rides shotgun, how it’s our own personal milepost even if no one else knows it, music may be heard in groups, but it’s utterly personal.

But there was never another Mac McAnally album on Geffen.

Next thing I knew Mac was playing with Jimmy Buffett. A sideman instead of the main man. He’d gotten his chance, but he hadn’t connected.

But there was one song, from 1990, about the time Garth Brooks was initially triumphing, but I never heard it, this was still when there was a distinct line between country and rock, despite so many rock acts including country elements in their records, it wasn’t until the twenty first century that old rock fans realized if you wanted to hear guitars, if you wanted more of what used to be, you had to go to Nashville, in your mind anyway.

And I became aware of that song when it was covered by Kenny Chesney, it’s one of his staples, it’s entitled “Back Where I Come From.”

Well in the town where I was raised
The clock ticks and the cattle graze
Time passed with amazing grace
Back where I come from

It sounds like Mayberry. A slower pace. Where people live life as opposed to race it.

And as good as Kenny’s studio version is, the definitive performance is the one included in his 2006 LP “Kenny Chesney Live.” It’s slower, it’s pregnant with meaning. And when Kenny steps away from the mic and lets the audience sing…your heart pitter-patters, this is the unity too often lacking in the U.S. today. Kenny’s #1 venue is outside of Boston, where the Patriots play, but this southern music resonates just as much there. You see we all come from somewhere. Most probably a place where there was no spotlight, where we became who we are today.

But the most poignant lines are:

Some say it’s a backward place
Narrow minds on a narrow way
But I make it a point to say
That’s where I come from

Not only do most Americans not go overseas, most haven’t been far from where they grew up. In the seventies, prior to cheap air travel, never mind the internet, it was a rite of passage, with your family, while you were in college, to get behind the wheel and explore, to see America, Paul Simon even wrote a whole song about it.

“Back Where I Come From” is a hit, the kind I mentioned above, indelible, above the rest, a statement, that penetrates your soul, that you can hear over and over again and never burn out on.

Now the original Mac McAnally version is more upbeat, your mind drifts less, you’re caught up in the groove, smiling, like you do when you hear his new track “Once In A Lifetime.”

Every day is truly once in a lifetime. It’s not coming back. Which is what bugs me about this Covid-19 era, being in suspended animation, watching my life go by, the grains of sand flowing through the hourglass, with only so many left.

Every day is once in lifetime
And right now just me be the right time

I must admit, I’m a glass half-empty kind of guy, but my glass is full when I listen to music, the right music, it not only makes me happy, it emboldens me.

I didn’t get “Once In A Lifetime” at first. Close, but no cigar. But then I listened a second time, now I pull it up and let it play over and over again, I don’t want the mood to end.

I only met McAnally once. Back in the earlier part of this century. At a Jimmy Buffett show in Chula Vista. It was still sunny, he was wandering around backstage with no airs, he could have been a roadie to those out of the loop, or a lumberjack, with his red hair and beard. But I had to talk to him, I had to tell him how much I liked “Nothing But The Truth,” I figured it would mean something to him, that the unheralded work reached a listener and still meant something to him.

But what stunned me in the reaction was the accent. This guy was truly from Mississippi. And he kept his head down, he was humble, he didn’t want to talk about it, he just wanted to move on, he seemed to be embarrassed by the attention. Funny how you think you know who someone is based on their records. That someone sensitive in their music, plumbing their emotions, would be eager to have that conversation in real life, but not Mac, at least not that day, he wasn’t dismissive, he just wanted to elude the spotlight.

Now “Once In A Lifetime” sounds like it’s being sung by the riverbank, with only a few in attendance, made for the joy of music as opposed to the audience, as opposed to the money.

And I don’t think there’s gonna be a lot of money in “Once In A Lifetime,” unless it’s covered by one of Nashville’s stars. The recording is a blueprint, they’d just find someone with a rich voice with little character and gussy up the production, make it slick, but what makes “Once In A Lifetime” so good is its roughness.

It used to be different. If you were the kind of person who could get a record deal, get a song on the radio, you were established, you could turn it into a career. But today if these same people make music very few hear it. You can’t be doing it for the money, you’ve got to be doing it because you love it.

And I love “Once In A Lifetime.”

The story of “Once In A Lifetime” and a live acoustic performance thereof

This is a music business issue.

Despite the corroded infrastructure of the twentieth first century music business, based on terrestrial radio and a small number of top of the chart records, the best way to reach the target demo, the youth of today, with music, both old and new, is TikTok.

We heard about gaming. Music is secondary at best, background noise.

Guitar Hero and Rock Band? A limited number of tracks, you couldn’t play EVERYTHING!

But on TikTok, the uploaders use a cornucopia of songs and many see traction elsewhere, on Spotify, YouTube, et al. Some even become gigantic hits.

Not that this is an unknown paradigm. There are big acts like Drake feeding songs to the service, trying to jump-start or enhance their trajectory in traditional music media.

But on TikTok, the public, the users, pick the songs. And successful clips can be viewed triple digit millions of times, and more than one person can employ the same tune, this is oftentimes the case. TikTok is a hotbed of track development, it can not only make careers, it can bring the ancient back to life.

But the conversation in the music business is always about the past. Those with power want to preserve old systems and keep bitching about their cheese being moved, they abhor change.

First and foremost TikTok illustrates that breaking records will move more and more into the hands of the public. And the public decides what is a winner and what is not. And the gap between what is employed and what is not will be even greater than it is on streaming services. In other words, gatekeepers lose power, and the music business loves gatekeepers, that’s what streaming service playlists are all about! Get the company to insert your track and…most people using playlists are listening in the background, it’s hard to convert them into active listeners, to pick out a track, it’s not vastly different from Muzak in the office. But when a song is used on TikTok, it’s frequently integral to the action, without the song there is no clip. And the hook is key, demonstrating the axiom that hooks are nearly always necessary for great success in the music business. It’s a free-for-all, and the music business HATES free-for-alls, it wants to control and constrict the narrative, isn’t this the history of music online, starting with Napster?

And then the old artists and the ones working in the old manner, a few years to make an album which drops all at once, can’t stop complaining about social media, they keep telling us they’re artists, and you’re impinging on their creativity if you make them do anything other than sit in a studio and record twelve tunes. But the history of music on the internet is it blows up via word of mouth, which is hard to control, if people like something they pass it on, and if they don’t… This is very different from radio, where you’re trying to convince the programmer, online it’s straight to the customer/listener.

And Donald Trump wants to shut TikTok down.

Here’s where music and politics merge. Here’s where you’re out of the loop if you’re not reading the headlines. Because you have no framework, no sense of reference.

Donald Trump wants to shut TikTok down because it’s a haven of anti-Trump activity. It is hard to gauge TikTok’s effectiveness in this area, but one thing is for sure, the arena wasn’t full in Tulsa, could that be as a result of all the TikTokkers asking for tickets they were never going to use, the president to promise an overflow crowd that did not appear? Did you see the second stage outside the BOK Center, they started tearing it down during the event inside, there was no one there.

But if TikTok shuts down, the music business is collateral damage.

But the music business is silent. Used to be the music business was cutting edge, where you went to get the news, now it’s caught flat-footed. Don’t you defend your turf? Everybody else in America does.

So sure, Trump doesn’t like China having control of TikTok, hoovering up all that data, but why does TikTok have to shut down NOW?!

TikTok is a community. Of youngsters. And anti-Trump fervor is rampant on the service. Which assembles its army to fight Trump in the real world.

Meanwhile, Microsoft says it’ll buy TikTok.

But this is not good enough for Trump. Because this won’t solve his problem! Which is less about China and more about him and his election prospects.

The TikTokkers were all in a rage, downloading their content, crying in their fruit juice. That’s the difference in the Trump era, in the sixties users would fight back! But today’s youth are used to having their freedoms taken away.

Then again, one of the great things about social media, including TikTok, is its effect is essentially unmeasurable. All the data won’t tell you the ultimate reach and adoption. The service can’t be controlled and…

TikTok is not Facebook. All the conversation has been about disinformation on Facebook, not realizing that its users skew older.

As for Snap… Snapchat made its bones on an evanescent service. But its hook was Stories. But before Stories had mindshare outside a small coterie, Instagram copied it, stealing the momentum. That’s the narrative of the internet, there’s a first mover advantage, but you can never rest on your laurels, you must not sleep, you must keep on pushing. Which brings us to the strange case of Travis Kalanick. Travis employed this strategy to turn Uber into a behemoth. So, he was lauded by the same people who ended up criticizing him, and the end result was that Lyft gained traction and now Uber is not the leader it once was. It’s a jungle out there I tell you.

So, Facebook and Google can’t buy TikTok, no way. The only thing accomplished in last week’s hearings was to spread the word that these entities are duplicitous monopolists. Don’t expect any change to the existing services, but don’t expect it to be business as usual going forward. The government would never allow these two entities to buy TikTok. But Microsoft?

Zuckerberg can’t compete with TikTok, even though he’s trying. You see TikTok has critical mass. It was small once, when kids used Musical.ly in the U.S., but then that service was merged into TikTok and became a behemoth. TikTok was not secret, but somehow Zuck missed it. It grew too big right under his nose. And now there’s nothing he can do about it.

Is TikTok forever? History tells us social media sites are fads. Even Facebook itself, now the company’s main driver is Instagram. But TikTok’s growth proves that despite the footprint of the tech majors, there are still holes, they can still be beaten.

TikTok won’t be shut down. The public won’t stand for it. Microsoft will purchase the service.

Then again, Trump has done so much with little consequence. And as stated above, the youth have acquiesced in many cases. But the youth are activated, that’s what the anti-Trump TikTok rebellion is all about. And Trump should remember, every action has an equal reaction.

But the music business is looking at this from afar, hands-off.

People were file-trading and the music business was up-in-arms.

They came for the record stores and the music business was up-in-arms.

But somehow, when it comes down to what might be the best way to expose music today, the business is silent. Talk about being ripe for disruption…