It was boring.

The whole world tuned in…

And then the whole world tuned out.

This is why Roger Ailes succeeded, he knew it was all about showbiz, and the only person on stage who seemed to know this was Julian Castro. Yes, he was the big winner of the night, even though he called out Biden and was half-wrong. You see Castro came to win. A back of the pack softie, Castro demonstrated his fighting spirit, he stood up to Biden, laughed and rolled his eyes when somebody said something he thought was stupid or irrelevant. Now we know who Castro is. He certainly replaced Kamala Harris on the leaderboard.

Never pay heed to the analysts. By attacking Trump and nobody on stage, Harris took herself right out of the picture. She seemed like she really didn’t want to be there, like a prosecutor on Friday who wants to wrap up and get out of court. She’s toast.

As are the rest of the seven dwarves, other than the aforementioned Castro.

Beto O’Rourke, he even said some good stuff, but who cares? He was last year’s flavor, now he’s just another young guy trying to make a name for himself.

Klobuchar? A strict mother who was pissed with the shenanigans who kept telling us she knew better and to trust her, that she could bring the whole country together…huh? Forget plans, just meet me in the middle.

Cory Booker? Okay, you’ve been there and done that, but what have you done for us lately? You didn’t solve the problems in Newark and now you want us to give you the keys to the Oval Office because..? I can’t figure out a reason why.

And Andrew Yang, who triumphed by speaking English as opposed to political-speak, blew his whole candidacy by turning it into a game show. Yup, he was gonna give a grand to ten families every month…and then let’s see what happens? Everybody else laughed. And when he said he knew about doctors because he was Asian, implying that the profession was filled with Asians, he demonstrated that he’s living in a bubble, that he doesn’t know the rules, that there are certain things you can’t say, but he did! Over.

Mayor Pete? He said some good things, he appeared wise, he regained some luster, but not enough to recover from the police problems in his hometown.

Which leaves us with the three real candidates…Joe, Bernie and Elizabeth.

Warren avoided the question. Which was especially bad since Bernie answered it. Will Medicare For All make taxes go up? Of course it will, own it and move on. But she waffled to her detriment. And by time she found her voice again, even spoke, deep into the debate, when she was hitting them over the fence with no problem, nobody was watching.

Bernie killed, but his voice was shot, you couldn’t stop thinking he’d yelled so much that he’d worn himself out. One thing you can say for Bernie, and Elizabeth too, is that they’re passionate. Actually, they were the only two on stage who were. They were convinced what they were saying was true, they uttered it with emphasis, this stuff was important to them. The others? You wondered why they were on stage, because they certainly have no chance.

Other than Joe.

I’ll tell you, he’s from another era, with those teeth. As fake as can be. Bernie’s are yellow, Elizabeth’s imperfect, yet Joe’s look like Jim Carrey’s in “The Mask.” And he’s constantly fake smiling. Hell, that was the playbook in the last century, today we’re looking for authenticity and credibility, and the way Joe acts you just don’t buy it.

And he was creaky. He always seemed on the verge of forgetting something, a name, what he was talking about, it was uncomfortable watching him, you were willing him to get it right.

And he also came from the “trust me” school. Been there, done that, I’m the man. But Castro killed him by pointing out his selective embracement of Obama, saying he was with Barack when it suited him, and distancing himself when it didn’t. You can’t have it both ways. And the truth is Obama’s been out of office nearly three years, and the time has changed. Hell, we all like Obama, except for those who believe he was born in Kenya, but that doesn’t make him a great President. Hell, no one’s been a better ex-President than Jimmy Carter, he’s been on the right side of everything, advocating, unafraid of standing up to those who are wrong, but his term in office? Not so great.

Let’s see, Obama lost both houses of Congress and many governorships and state houses, to the point where he couldn’t get his agenda through. And as soon as he was gone, Trump and the Republicans eradicated/overturned almost all of his policies, clean water just today. But this is the guy we’re advocating and adoring? I don’t think so. Obama’s closer to a boy band. Hell, late twenty and thirtysomethings are going to see the Backstreet Boys, but today’s chart is dominated by Drake and Post Malone. We ain’t going backwards folks.

And after the candidates argued over health care, they became so lovey-dovey, team-like, that the debate was impossible to watch. Once again, the pundits had said not to have a circular firing squad and everybody agreed. The end result? The audience tuned out.

And there were few specifics, other than trumpeting their CVs. That’s why Bernie and Elizabeth stood out, there were some hooks in what they said. I mean when you talk broadly and say you’re gonna throw fifty mil at this or that…no one believes it, it’s too general, it doesn’t affect me if it even happens.

But Warren owned public schools. And someone else, either Yang or Castro, said that charter schools are not better than public ones. And Warren essentially came out against vouchers. Like I said, there was some substance there. But most of it was uttered after the audience had tuned out.

So what it came down to, assuming you watched, was emotion and image. Who was the most likeable, who was the most sincere, who had the best delivery.

Trump pushes the envelope every damn day and tonight everybody but Sanders bunts. Got to give Bernie credit, he stays true to his ethos, he’s always the same guy, it’s appealing, but tonight with his gruff voice he wasn’t.

As for moving the needle?

Not amongst the headliners, the big three, Bernie, Biden and Warren.

Like I said, Kamala is history, she killed her chances tonight, put a stake right through her own heart. Can Castro make hay from his appearance, be the new Harris? Possible, but doubtful.

So what we want is the three leaders on stage, sans kumbaya, a no holds barred cage match that reveals the true identity of these people, who they really are.

Biden will be overwhelmed and fold. He’s not good with direct attacks, he’s too busy going through his mental Rolodex, trying to figure out how to come back.

Sanders will fight hard. But we’ve seen this act before, back in 2016, it’s hard for him to generate heat today, even though so many of his positions are right and he’s got the aforementioned passion.

Which leaves us with Elizabeth Warren. She’s the candidate by default.

We want to be led forward, which Biden certainly won’t do, he’s too much of an insider inured to the past.

Bernie’s Metallica. All rough-edged, delivering his message with emphasis, hammering it home.

But Elizabeth Warren is closer to Ariana Grande. Someone who has a backbone who is the flavor of the moment. Warren’s not Taylor Swift, she’s not that devious and manipulative, she’s playing for her positions, not herself, and that’s appealing.

But this show was not. Makes you want to give up on politics.

One thing’s for sure, Trump was speaking English, he made the debates his own, he owned the stage, he defined the game.

And that appealed to people.

Very little appealed to people tonight.

From the Limeliters to the Smothers Brothers, Kenny Rogers, Lionel Richie, Travis Tritt, Trisha Yearwood and even Gallagher, Ken Kragen is a legendary manager and one of the main drivers behind “We Are The World.” Listen to hear his history, as well as the tale of that legendary charity project.

Now there was a point in this podcast where my heart started beating faster, where I got excited, when I remembered what once was, when Ken started talking about the seventies and eighties, the glory days, when music drove the culture and a performer was as rich as anybody in America, it’s gone, but it was thrilling.

And Ken started telling his story, about promoting shows at his high school in the fifties, and I was stunned how I didn’t know one of the singers’ names. That’s what seems to happen, you’re famous in your era and then you’re forgotten. The landscape is littered with superstars the younger generations do not know. Hell, once the boomers die, certainly the Gen-X’ers, will anybody remember Johnny Carson? It was kind of like growing up and hearing my mother lionize Sid Caesar, who eventually came back a bit, his old writer Mel Brooks featured him in “Silent Movie,” but you’re here today and gone tomorrow.

Kinda like the business titans too. You’re on top of the world and then a footnote. Ken’s not gone yet, but hearing about his lengthy career it reinforced a recent feeling…that it won’t be long before I’m on the scrapheap too.

P.S. If you’re only interested in “We Are The World,” it’s the last fifteen minutes or so.

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Warren is gonna win the nomination and beat Trump. End of story.

Driving this afternoon I was listening to Danny Wilde on direct connection via my iLX-W650. For newcomers, that’s the Alpine head unit I installed in my car, a 2005 Saab that is really a Subaru. But the installer ran a cable into my glove box so I could plug my iPhone in directly and get CarPlay and superior sound. CarPlay is sort of cool, a direct connection is mind-blowing, you lose something with Bluetooth. Driving on the 10 last night, I heard Karla Bonoff’s “Isn’t It Always Love,” and other stuff I hadn’t heard in a long time. You see music through earbuds just doesn’t cut it. But in the old days, we purchased bigger and better rigs to get closer to the sound, and I was reminded of that yesterday, especially when shuffle revealed the Doobie Brothers’ “Natural Thing.” The band was there, but the producer and engineer tweaked the sound just a bit, to make a great record.

And there are so many great records that never got their due, like Danny Wilde’s “The Boyfriend.” Sure, “Isn’t It Enough” got some MTV love, but he was on Island which at that time just wasn’t powerful enough, then he switched to Geffen and didn’t deliver and then he got back together with his old buddy Phil Solem and became the Rembrandts and they delivered delicious stuff, but then they recorded the “Friends” theme and the act’s image changed, but at least they can still tour on that hit.

But listening to “Isn’t It Enough” I took notice of how long ago that was. 1986, thirty four years ago. So much has changed, people don’t even make records like this anymore.

And our country surely isn’t stuck in the eighties either.

But on the way to a hike tonight, I was touching the screen and changing tracks and I realized I was about to get in a wreck, multiple times, so on the way back home I turned up the news, Howard was repeating what I’d already heard. And what I got was Brian Williams pompously interviewing the usual suspects with their suspect analysis.

You see the Democrats and the media think it’s still 2016. They’re fighting the last war. And these are the people who called it wrong to begin with! They said Trump had no chance. The ball has moved, times have changed, you couldn’t run Danny Wilde up the charts today, that straight ahead rock sound isn’t in style. But somehow Joe Biden is?

So these outlets have to fill space. I don’t understand the people who have TV news on all day long, especially because if you watch it all they do is quote the newspapers and discuss and argue over it, why not read the newspapers to begin with? These channels are cheering squads. Aligned with one party or another. And the people who watch want to feel good, but they’re not the ones who need convincing, it’s those not paying attention who do.

So what we’ve got is the political caste, the insiders, handicapping the election. This is like asking Doug Morris about Napster back in the year 2000. Or paying attention to the idiots who still think physical is gonna come back, that streaming is for losers because you can’t own it. Are these same people angry that they can’t own the shows they stream on Netflix? You’ve got to ignore these people, if you want to know where it’s all going.

So, Trump decided to play by his own rules back in 2016. At first, everybody said he was wrong, both the Republican candidates and the RNC. But then, when it became clear Trump would be the candidate, they all got on board. But somehow, the Democratic nominee for 2020 must play by the rules. Huh? Isn’t this how we got into this mess? Looking at history, viewing today through the past? This is how Apple defeated Microsoft to become the most valuable company on the planet. You skate to where the puck is going, not where it’s been.

So for the last month or so, Trump has gone positively insane, completely off his rocker, do you think people haven’t recognized this? Of course his base is gonna continue to vote for him. It’d be like classic rock fans suddenly embracing hip-hop, not gonna happen.

So Trump tapped into the frustrations of voters back in 2016, but the media and the DNC say the Democratic candidate can’t tap into the frustrations of voters today. Story is more people hate Trump, they’ll vote for anybody else but him. It’s just a matter of appealing to them and getting out the vote.

But how do the usual suspects appeal to the voters, motivate them to get out? By endorsing Joe Biden whom no one can get excited about. I mean you might as well stay home. We’re not returning to Danny Wilde’s eighties and there’s no way we’re returning to the Obama era. The coordinates have changed, you’ve got to change your course.

But all the experts say no, that you’ve got to stay the course because the risk of Trump winning is just too big. That’s like saying not to put out a new album because it might flop and this will negatively impact sales of catalog. But the truth is if you do nothing, if you stay out of the marketplace completely, catalog sales will tank all by their lonesome. Nothing is forever. You want to see the new “Star Wars,” not the old one.

So the Democrats are all about infighting. Now they’re even attacking Warren for taking big money in the past. She changed her mind, she saw the cash Bernie was raising, she decided to forgo the money of the man in favor of the proletariat. You can’t change your mind anymore? You can’t be impacted by what’s going on?

And the truth is anybody with money is afraid of Warren, not only on the right, but the left. One, they used to control the process, and now they’re losing control. Two, rich people don’t want to sacrifice, they’re afraid of losing, they’ve anointed themselves as an inviolate elite that can’t be challenged. But the last time I checked, there are very few rich people, the middle class, or what’s left of it, and the lower class, far outnumber the wealthy, and it’s one person, one vote.

Which brings us back to the Electoral College. Yes, it comes down to four or five states. But Hillary, coasting in anticipation of her coronation, didn’t do the hard work there, furthermore, she was advised by the same wankers who think they’re still in charge today.

You should listen. The DNC and the talking head class are so afraid of Trump and the Republicans it’s scary. If polls show five candidates beating Trump, it’s too early to trust. You can’t talk about any controversial subject. Yup, they’re all saying to avoid certain topics tonight. It’s like the Republicans are the parents and the Democrats are their children. Time to grow a pair and stand up for what you believe in. But no, you’ve got to chafe at your parents’/the Republicans’ game, you can’t define your own.

So we have a Democratic party in disarray, those making money off of it, the consultants, pollsters, the infrastructure, not wanting to play for what’s right, but what others say is safe, all the while getting paid. It’s positively ridiculous.

It wasn’t industry insiders who moved the music business forward. It was Shawn Fanning. A COLLEGE STUDENT! And then music distribution was overhauled by a Swedish guy no one had ever heard of, Daniel Ek. But somehow in politics we should listen to the establishment? Give credit to music, it keeps moving forward, we blow out the old acts and the old execs, but not in politics, even when confronted with a sea change, i.e. the election of Trump.

Warren is Guns N’ Roses. Or at least Pat Benatar. Meanwhile, Biden is Air Supply, which a few might tolerate but no one believes in. It’s always the envelope-pushing that’s the biggest, but we must play it safe in politics? Look at the movie studios, only making sequels. Now they’re starting to fail in the marketplace, people have seen the trick, they want something new. And most want a whole new paradigm, i.e. streaming TV. So what does the movie industry do? Raise prices to keep their margins. Once again, it’s like no one ever read Clayton Christensen’s “Innovator’s Dilemma.” You superserve the usual suspects at your peril. The new is always denigrated, it’s not mainstream, people don’t need it, and then it puts the old out of business overnight. Remember when Tower Records folded?

So if you want to know what’s going on, don’t watch TV news, read the newspaper, and read editorial and opinion with a grain of salt. You want to know the facts and then come up with your own analysis.

The facts are out there, it’s just the analysis that sucks. It’s like no one is living in present day reality. People hate Trump, their wages are stagnant, graduates owe a ton of money, they can’t afford houses, but because the stock market is gangbusters they’re all gonna vote for Trump? OF COURSE NOT! They don’t have skin in that game. So, Warren appeals to their souls and their pocketbooks, she makes sense, they think she can provide a way out of this mess, that she’s on their team. Neera Tanden is smart, but she’s got it totally wrong. Now it’s about the people, not the fat cats or insiders. That’s how Trump won, and now you’re gonna throw out that playbook?

You learn from the past, and then inject it into the present.

People are disenfranchised. They want to get behind a leader, they want someone to believe in.

And that’s why Warren will win.

You gotta keep your love
Keep your love alive

For rock music.

I woke up today and my brain was playing this song. I was kinda fuzzy, like I’d been through something.

They call it music.

Elle King… A constant warning to take the other direction, as Jim Carroll once sang. Completely different from everything in the Spotify Top 50. Music played with guitars, a band, with a frontwoman with pipes and soul. You used to gain attention by being on the radio, through your records, now it’s appearing live. Most people have never heard of you, never mind your music. That’s the essence of festivals today, grazing, checking out the new and different to see if anything’s worth paying attention to. And the epicenter is the Newport Folk Festival. It’s the antithesis of the shiny happy people topping Spotify. It’s not about a certain headliner, but a scene, which its members feel part of. I’d rather see brand expansion on Newport than any other festival. I got there early just to see Elle, and she delivered.

Unlike Joan Jett.

What kind of crazy, fucked-up world do we live in where Joan Jett is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Heart isn’t?

One in which the Hall has been compromised by personal agendas. Now membership means nothing, it just shows some insider has a hard-on for you. Used to be a badge of honor to be included, now I think it’s more of a badge of honor to be EXCLUDED! Like Todd Rundgren. He’s got more talent in his little finger than Joan Jett. And he writes, plays, produces and engineers. But no, he can’t be in the Hall, even though “Hello It’s Me” has as much ubiquity as Jett’s hits, even though he’s been responsible for more hits, can you say WE’RE AN AMERICAN BAND?

Jett’s lead guitarist looked like he’d escaped from a mental hospital. His hair slicked up, he was too old for this. You wished he’d sacrificed the tattoos and gotten a day job, it’s not the eighties anymore.

And Kenny Laguna was a laughingstock. Evidence of what a manager should not do. He played on stage in his street clothes and then took the mic and rambled at length TWICE! As if he was the act. And maybe he’s responsible for Jett’s success, but come on man, isn’t the money enough? Can’t you kvell in private? Insiders know what you did, outsiders just don’t care.

But I’ll admit to enjoying “Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah),” with its “oh yeah” break. But Joan didn’t even nail her hits, i.e. “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” and “I Hate Myself For Loving You”…you’d think she’d have them dialed in after all this time, but no, they missed a bit, like a high school band performing them, and as far as the closer, Sly & the Family Stone’s “Everyday People”… Why? Then again, at this late date, even though she has not come out of the closet, Jett is a gay icon, and a lot of her fans were in attendance.

Actually, that’s something that stunned me. The Bowl was essentially sold out. This bill has been tearing it up all over the country. Do people want nostalgia? Or to see women perform? Or..?

One thing’s for sure, when word gets out how great Heart still is, attendance will go up, THEY WOWED US!

Now they had three guitarists. I haven’t seen this configuration since Keith Urban shows. As well as a bass and keyboard player and drummer.

And they started with a hit, “Bebe Le Strange”‘s “Rockin’ Heaven Down,” you know with that guitar figure intro and then Ann Wilson’s voice…

That was the shocker of the evening, Ann Wilson’s vocals. She hasn’t lost a step, no range, the old classic male rockers voices’ are compromised, we cut them a break in concert, but Ann’s voice was still there, it was marvelous and overwhelming.

And Ann and the band knew what they were doing. They were there to knock our socks off, there’s no way anybody could have followed them. It was like the seventies all over again, you were jetted back to that era, when you were addicted to FM radio and out of the airwaves exploded an unheard band from Seattle on an indie label.

And that was the following number, “Magic Man”…there’s no boomer who doesn’t know it.

Come on home girl
Mama cried on the phone
Too soon to lose my baby
And my girl should be at home
But try to understand
Try to understand
Try, try, try to understand
He’s a magic man mama

Sisters who followed the sound, who went off the beaten path, who weren’t put together in a fake band by Kim Fowley, who were addicted to the sound and were willing to sacrifice everything to pursue it.

But the best part of “Magic Man” was the break. They played all the sounds, it was the record, it wasn’t on hard drive, but you felt there was no way they’d be able to execute it, down to the synth sound. It was a revelation, a stunner, this is what we came for, even if we didn’t know it. The band is tight as can be, firing on all cylinders, we were taken away, just like we used to be.

The third number was “Love Alive,” quoted above.

It was about this time that I realized how many hits Heart had, that they could do a whole show of them, why do they get no respect?

With Nancy picking, demonstrating chops equivalent to the boys, I was reminded of what once was and suddenly was back, that exhilaration of the sound, when we all lived for it, when it wasn’t about brand extension, but what was in the grooves.

But then the surprise of all surprises. You caught it from the beginning but just couldn’t believe it, they were playing…Yes’s “Your Move”? It was positively shocking. With the harmonies. From “The Yes Album,” before the band truly hit. If you were a fan back then your skin tingled. And you remembered how Ann and Nancy were always fans, they were just like us!

And when they finished to thunderous applause, they broke into…

I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE?

I bet you’re wondering how I knew

I didn’t. But they did. That this would titillate us, get us grooving, illustrating how they were on the same wavelength as those in the crowd. It was a celebration, which broke into “Straight On” and then briefly back. Huh? How’re they doing this, and not having it look like nostalgia?

Then Nancy did a solo “Boxer,” that’s right, the Simon & Garfunkel song, showing that her pipes were strong, that she could hold her own, that Ann wasn’t the only stellar vocalist in the band.

Same deal on “These Dreams,” Nancy’s legendary eighties hit, which was even better than the record, with more gravitas.

Oh, they played “Dog & Butterfly,” risking softness when everybody expected the band to be in their faces.

And I liked “Little Queen” better than the record, it rocked just perfectly.

But even better was “Even It Up.” Which rocked on down the highway as well as any of the vaunted male-led consortiums from back then, demonstrating the band’s power, their drive.

I’ll admit there was one song I didn’t recognize, “Mistral Wind,” even though I own the album it’s on, I guess I just haven’t played it in a while.

And then they went crazy on us. At this point we were smiling, truly the people we once were.

And then the band left the stage.

Now I know they’ve got to play “Barracuda,” and most acts want to go out on a balls-out rocker, but when the band returned, Nancy strode to the front of the stage with her acoustic and started playing…

My body’s tingling again, because I was so shocked and it was so cool, so life-affirming and centering, it was none other than “Stairway To Heaven”!

Of course I know the band’s huge Zeppelin fans. But I expected “Battle Of Evermore,” which the sisters covered in the Lovemongers. I mean it’s the encore, you play your best material and go out.

And Ann’s playing the flute, demonstrating she’s got more talent than you think, and you’re positively stunned, you’re going on a journey, to where you once lived, a land you treaded to the point you know it by heart, but can never go back to. And here’s a band on stage recreating it, as a tribute, but done by them, EVEN BETTER THAN ZEPPELIN COULD DO IT!

Of course Jimmy could play the guitar parts, but there’s no way Plant can hit those high notes anymore, he admits this and has moved on to greener pastures, but Ann Wilson still can, and she’s levitating the whole Bowl.

And as we wind on down the road

We realize we lived through something, something the younger generation can never know. When music drove the culture, when rock was king and we all listened, paid attention, read every word we could about it and went to the show not to shoot selfies, but to have a religious experience.

And Ann Wilson is not one of those melisma masters, a TV contestant with pipes and no soul. She’s comfortable on stage, acting the front person as well as any male. She’s the lead singer, the cherry on top, but she knows the band is right behind her, to support her, to carry the whole enterprise over the top.

Of course they ended with “Barracuda,” after a powerhouse version of “Alone,” but then they were smiling, knowing their work was done, they came to conquer and they did.

Yes, this was the era. When you strove not to be a banker but a musician, when there was no higher calling, when we worshipped the people on stage, when we listened to what they had to say, because they’d been there and done that, they had wisdom.

Now if you think I’m exaggerating, I’m not.

This is not hip-hop, this is not “The Voice,” actually I thought Ann should be a judge, then again, you can’t teach what she’s got, she was born with it, the greatness was intangible, same with her sister Nancy, what environment did these two sisters grow up in that they could create and deliver at this level?

It was like we all decided to go on a trip back together, as ourselves, to explore what was there, how we felt and what parts of that era are still embedded in our souls.

We were a band of wild angels…

Rockin’ heaven down.

Heart is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They were inducted in 2013. But that just shows what a worthless institution it is, I couldn’t remember this. I guess I still can’t get over the fact that Joan Jett is a member. Who next, the Archies? Or maybe the Fugs, they were new and different. And the list of those excluded is too long to list. Herman’s Hermits had much more impact than Joan Jett, but somehow they’re excluded. The R&RHOF is a dead paradigm, it’s run by the tight pants/black leather jacket crew, you know, the wankers in the back of the room who think they know better but never went on a date. But today, those people have no purchase…in a world where no one can know everything and the joke is on those who are proud of being there first and dissing everybody else’s taste. It’s every person for themselves now, and if you find something and like it, more power to you, we’re all overwhelmed. I won’t say that makes it great, but great no longer surfaces all by itself, and too much which is great is never acknowledged.

End of rant.

I hate being wrong.