It’s too late baby
Now it’s too late

Carole King

Politics is show business for ugly people. And you’ve got to play by show business rules.

Show business is all about preparation, getting the act, song, movie, TV show, ready and then marketing it so people will be aware of it and buy it.

And you always want to be first, and you want to eliminate all chance.

You want an upward curve, even if you start low and slow.

You want no lulls. You want to keep people interested, by teasing them with new information on a regular basis.

You want to control the narrative.

And what is the narrative the Democrats are trying to sell?

Damned if I know. The only thing they can agree on is they hate Trump. I hate KISS, but that doesn’t keep them off the road, playing to empty arenas, their fans support them. And speaking of KISS, Gene Simmons is one of the greatest marketers of all time, a complete blowhard, but he’s making it work for himself and the band. Maybe he learned it all from Neil Bogart, who changed his name from “Bogatz,” to give the right “impression.” Bogart failed on his first attempt, trying to sell a record of Johnny Carson routines, it went instantly into the cut-out bin, but then he pivoted to disco and Donna Summer and KISS.

And Bogart was a showman, full of crap. Seemingly everything he said was inflated and wrong. Remember when there were four simultaneous KISS solo albums and Neil said they were instantly gold? The press bought it, even though all of them but Ace Frehley’s came back.

You see it’s all about perception. Sell the myth, not the facts.

It’s more important that Elizabeth Warren be seen as a fighter against the man than any specific policy position. People don’t go that deep. CONGRESS doesn’t go that deep! Did you read the “New Yorker” story on Al Franken? His accuser told boldfaced lies, there was history disputing her account, but she got out there first and what she said ruled, even though she was working for a pro-Trump radio station. Once again, the Democrats reacted, and now they’re doubling-down, can’t see why they were wrong. Kirsten Gillibrand, YOU’RE HISTORY!

The press said Trump was losing because he brought up the “i” word before the Democrats. But Trump knows you get ahead of the blowback, you make the first punch, and you load the media with so much b.s. that it can’t keep up.

Meanwhile, the public doesn’t know the difference between impeachment and conviction and Pelosi seems as old as she really is. She’s Perry Como after the Beatles. Doesn’t she realize THE RULES HAVE CHANGED?

Happens in entertainment all the time. Suddenly you can’t sell hair bands. Suddenly hip-hop is burgeoning. And if you fight the tide, you drown. Oh, little fish can still swim in their own private backwaters, but if you’re playing for everything, if you want to run the table, you’ve got to be looking to the future, not the past!

Trump speaks to the public. Pelosi speaks to insiders.

That’s why AOC gets so much traction, she speaks to the public-at-large, it’s less about legislation than attitude, which is move over you old farts and let the younger generation take the reins, you oldsters have no idea what is going on anymore!

But Team Pelosi says you’ve got to run to the center, because you’ve got to appeal to those districts that flipped for Democrats in 2016. That’s like making Aerosmith play acoustic, and refusing to let them play new material.

Of course, Aerosmith doesn’t play new material, and Chris Christie is a big Boss fan. It’s kinda like long hair. Once upon a time it symbolized something, you were either for us or against us, then it was just a fashion choice.

Anyone who plays to the rearguard is always disrupted. Didn’t you ever read Clayton Christensen? Everybody pooh-poohs the new, saying it’s not as good as the old, and then it becomes better and the old folds overnight. Christensen says to embrace the new, and then eliminate the old when the new gains traction. The DNC is being disrupted and their answer? Let’s go back to Good Ol’ Joe. That’s like asking your grandfather for music advice.

So what we’ve got is candidates who want to throw the baby out with the bathwater and the Democrats are freaking out, they can’t even get aligned on one position. Criticize the Republicans all you want, but after Trump they all got in line. That’s how you win, when you play like a team!

And if you try to appeal to everybody, you lose. The road is littered with middle of the road artists, who fail on the chart and play to a dwindling audience in Branson and clubs. You want to get people EXCITED! That’s what Warren and Harris and Bernie and Buttigieg are doing.

And what does the establishment say?

THEY’RE TOO FAR LEFT!

AC/DC was too heavy until suddenly they weren’t. “Back In Black” is still streaming prodigiously today, “You Shook Me All Night Long” is an American anthem! Of course Mutt Lange helped. The right has Karl Rove, who do we have on the left?

So the reason you wanted impeachment is so the whole world would watch, so Trump’s bad behavior, criminal or not, would infect the public. When the truth outs, it’s hard to deny.

But no, it was never time. Pelosi and her pals are like a Silicon Valley outfit that never releases its product. It’s so busy getting it right that it can never come out. Meanwhile, Facebook becomes so big by having a motto of “move fast and break things.” Forget that Zuckerberg is the enemy now, he’s on top of the pyramid, he controls the conversation more than not only Congress, but the mainstream media! Furthermore, he just pivoted, saying it was about private conversations, when the Democrats are still looking for that elusive consensus. Everything worth paying attention to starts off the radar, small, and then it blows up and BECOMES THE MAINSTREAM!

So Barr says Trump is innocent.

The Dems folded their tent.

Then Mueller sends his letter and they think…wow, maybe there’s something here. Like a band the label has stopped working that is suddenly selling tickets…the label is on to something else, it’s hard to get it restarted on your old product.

And then the Democrats placed all their hopes on Mueller testifying. That’s like taking someone with a great record, who’s never been on stage, and having them headline Coachella! No one would do that, the odds of failure are too high.

So Mueller didn’t deliver. Oh, don’t make it about Russia, the Dems thought Mueller was gonna blow a hole through the curtain, reveal that Trump was culpable and should be charged. Not only did Mueller not do this, he said as much after he delivered his report earlier…this was his final statement!

And the Dems are playing by old rules and crying to the nonexistent refs that the Republicans are cheating. No, Trump and his posse have invented new rules, like no one in the regime needs to testify. When they up the ante, so do you! You don’t say there’s no crying in baseball!

So now, on left wing radio, all the talk is about getting the transcripts from the grand jury. God, even in the NFL when you lose, you lose, no matter how heinous the call. Because without rules, you’ve got no game.

And that’s what’s happening now, WE’VE GOT NO GAME! Trump and his cronies are running ragged and the Dems and the media are so flummoxed, they do NOTHING!

Come on. Even the most lame influencer knows you’ve got to deliver product on a regular basis. You’ve got to hook the audience and deliver. That’s certainly what Trump has done, and all the left keeps saying is HE SHOULDN’T TWEET!

Meanwhile, these same wankers are posting to Instagram, the national pastime, and despite their constant disparagement of the internet and Twitter, Twitter is where the news happens, and if you’re not on it, you don’t know what’s going on.

So impeachment failed in the marketplace. It’s like Annapurna, Megan Ellison’s movie company. No matter how great the film, and she’s put out plenty, they never reach expectations. “Booksmart,” one of the best-reviewed movies this year, which appeals to oldsters and youngsters…dead. Product is only one part of the puzzle, you need the aforementioned marketing. The big studios may put out lame films, but they’re experts in marketing them.

When you fail, you write it off. Just look at the Fortune 500, that’s what they do. Did Bezos try to improve the Fire phone? No, he deleted it from the catalog. And today, your mistakes don’t haunt you as long as you continue to play and make noise. Once again, the game has changed, there’s so much noise that the biggest challenge is just reaching the public. And if you don’t, people forget what you were selling, they’re inundated with new messages.

And I’ve used a plethora of metaphors here, but now I’m gonna use one more. Pro football used to be a running game. Now running backs make a fraction of what they used to, all the emphasis is on passing and receiving! You change with the times!

Seems like everybody can change with the times but the Democrats.

So forget impeachment. This is the gang that can’t shoot straight, even if they have clear evidence that Trump needs to go, the right will spin it otherwise and rule the marketplace, i.e. public opinion. And just like a record, you don’t have to appeal to everybody to win. How come Trump knows this and the Democrats don’t?

Instead of clinging to the past, trying to rebuild the old edifice, it’s time to build a new one. And there are a number of candidates promising this. Safe rarely succeeds. Can you say Romney? Can you say Kerry! One of the reasons Obama won was because he HAD little history. There was little to nail him on and he promised hope.

Believe me, Ol’ Joe is not promising hope. He’s like a boomer musician waiting for Hilary Rosen to save them from streaming. But Hilary’s moved on from the RIAA, and streaming has already won, soon there won’t even be any hardware to play discs! Apple kills the iPod because the innards are no longer manufactured, and the Democrats keep trying to prop up oldsters, held together by baling wire. Bill Clinton had Linda Bloodworth-Thomason and her husband selling him, and despite baggage, he won anyway!

Who do the Democrats have?

Maybe it’s time to hire Bill Belichick.

Oh, that’s right, HE’S A TRUMPER!

Evolve or die.

I can’t go to see the oldsters anymore. I saw them when they were coming up, on the reunion tour and then the one after that…do I really want to relive the past that badly?

Of course there are exceptions, more than a few, but I just don’t understand how the boomers can go year after year to see the same acts perform the same songs over and over again. I hunger for the new.

But what is hyped is crap and the rest of the scene is incomprehensible, loaded with wannabes crying for attention, to the point you give up.

But I stumbled on to ODESZA and last night I finally saw them.

It was an experience.

This is unfathomable to boomers. To them, it was all about the music, and only the music.

To Gen-X, music was a party, more about being a member of the club than what was happening on stage.

What is the appropriate music for today’s generation, glued to its smartphones, with the world at its fingertips?

Something that cannot be replicated elsewhere, something that demands your attention, something that melds the past with the present, the analog with the digital in an amalgamation akin to a cyborg.

Now there were 18,000 people there. Sold out. And they’re going to repeat the process tonight. And would do it again if they could get the venue.

And most people had no idea it was happening.

That’s the modern world in a nutshell. Used to be you knew every act in town, there were never two stars on the same night, now you don’t even know when a superstar is playing, even if you’re a fan!

But somehow a coterie of people know, it’s important to them and they go, even if you may be clueless.

Now I didn’t see a single oldster there, I was definitely the oldest person in attendance, by years. Because the link has been broken between the musical generations. The oldsters still think it’s about what they read in the newspaper, what’s “selling,” what’s on the radio, when the truth is today radio is last, and streaming is subservient to live, that’s where it all happens, on stage.

And don’t think of it as classic acts hoovering up cash on the road, pissed they have to work so hard to earn what they used to sitting at home opening the mailbox. Today the road is an adventure, a place where you connect with your fans off the radar screen, it’s a unique experience.

Now all the people were mashed together. Having been squished at a show, I felt if someone yelled FIRE, or if they heard a gunshot…it would have not only been pandemonium, you might have lost your life.

And it was completely dark, and as the women passed me on this hot summer night I could see how they could be groped with few consequences.

But this was not Woodstock ’99, this audience was half and half, half women and half men, and totally orderly, exulting in the music…

While they were watching what was happening on screen and on stage.

The screens, they oftentimes trumped the performers. Imagine getting on the Millennium Falcon and flying through space while a light show was pulsing outside the window.

You could not take your eyes off the screens/stage, you didn’t want to miss a thing.

So the electronic music starts, and then out come two trombonists and a drum line… HUH? What is this, a combo of Beyonce with the future? How come she got so much ink, and this has not?

And this is not a physical workout. No one was sweating, they were just locked into the beat of the music, as was the audience, grooving.

And this was not the bass-heavy thump of what most people consider to be electronic music, it wasn’t that repetitive, nor was it just a pulsation. It was not about beating you into submission, but entrancing you.

And just when you start wondering how much is canned, one of the two ODESZA members sits down at a piano and a woman comes out and sings what most people would call a ballad. Complete with a string section! I mean this was totally live.

And a couple of songs later, another woman came out to sing.

And then a GUITARIST! Whose notes swirled in the ether, mesmerizing you.

And I didn’t know most of the material, but I’d get caught up in the groove, and thrust my arm in the air and move my body too, with my eyes glued to the stage all the while.

And I guess that’s about all I can tell you about it. In other words, you had to be there, when today too often you don’t have to. There’s something happening on stage, but it’s not immersive, but last night the audience was glued to the performance.

By two guys who were not lookers. This is not the MTV era, it’s not Ariana Grande, it’s the antidote, akin to FM as opposed to AM way back when.

And the performers, the duo who comprise ODESZA, had little charisma, they seemed more like members of the audience, part of the experience.

And one thing was for sure, I didn’t feel like I was living in the past, I felt like I was firmly ensconced in the present.

They’re making new people every day. And old people not only don’t want to cede territory, they think their acts, their music, will rule forever.

But that is untrue.

To a great degree the music was electronic, but there was melody. This was not hip-hop. Nor was it your basic electronica. It seemed to be pointing to the future.

Now I remember when Kraftwerk put out “Computer World.” At first it was incomprehensible, but then something clicked and you got it. I won’t go see the band again, because I remember seeing them at the Santa Monica Civic on that tour and having my jaw drop, the performance and sound were beyond cutting edge, they were out there on the edge of hyperspace.

And just like members of the Homebrew Computer Club were functioning off stage until they revolutionized our society, it took a while for electronic music to percolate off stage before it was once again ready for its public moment.

And the great thing today is it’s not only this sound.

And radio is irrelevant to this sound.

And you don’t need a label.

You just have to surf the bleeding edge of what’s going on.

ODESZA broke on Pandora and Soundcloud, with no input from management, no working of the system. But then the band decided to announce live dates on both of these services.

And now they’re both in the rearview mirror.

How do you break your band tomorrow? Where are the early adopters lurking?

It starts with the music, BUT IT’S SO MUCH MORE!

From: mickey thomas
Subject: We Built This City
A Different Point of View

I don’t engage in debates over the validity of “We Built This City” or any of my work. It’s not my nature and I don’t really see the point of it, but there comes a moment when enough is enough.

It bothers me to read revisionist history by people trying to protect their own agendas. The main criticism of “We Built This City” didn’t really start until 15 years after the release. We all know where the gist of that came from. I’m someone who was also “THERE” when it all went down. So let me ask you a question…”Does anybody out there really think that Grace Slick would sing a song that she absolutely hated?”…… That’s what I thought you were thinking. I spent seven of the best years of my career recording and touring with Grace. Many long hours in the studio and on the tour bus. We enjoyed many fascinating conversations…A lot of highs and a few lows. I think I know her pretty well and I think the world of Grace.

I brought in the demo of “City” to present it to the STARSHIP band. (Not Jefferson Starship BTW) I was attracted by the lyrics of the song. I loved the imagery and the interpretive nature of Bernie’s words. I felt it was a protest song but not really in an angry sense, it impressed me more as a feeling of lost innocence. I discussed my thoughts on what “City” meant in the lyrics with the band. It was never about a real city to me. It was an allegory for any collection of people anywhere who came together to express themselves through the power of music. It was both a celebration of rock and roll and a protest against those who try and tame it. I never for a moment thought that anyone would think that I was actually singing about concrete and steel or bricks and mortar. I was actually thinking about Woodstock when I was recording this song. The “We” in the lyric to me always signified a collective we. The artist and the audience singing together as one.

The song then went through an evolution in the studio. The big anthemic chorus was added. This always represented a double edged sword for me. I knew that it was the “hook” that would give the song the most commercial appeal, but I was always afraid that it might obscure the dark underbelly of the verse lyrics. Therefore; the element that assured the songs success also provided the fodder for all the naysayers. I realize that “We Built This City” became the poster child for a lot of what was happening in music at that time that angered some folks. The technology invading the process and sanding down the rough edges of rock. For me it was like getting a new set of toys to play with, new tools to work with, a new pallet to paint with. We were just going through a new period of music. The “Knee Deep in the Hoopla” LP didn’t mean I would never sing “Jane” or “Find Your Way Back” or “Fooled Around and Fell in Love’ again. I realize some of the vitriol associated with “We Built This City” can be attributed to the transformation of the band….from the romanticized 60’s to the big business music of the 80’s. But hey….. that’s a whole other subject I won’t delve into at the moment.

The question for me is this: Why can’t a sophisticated listener enjoy both aspects of the song simultaneously? Why not sing along with the gleeful chorus while still appreciating the protestation of the verses. They are not mutually exclusive…Paradox anyone? The night “We Built This City” went to number one, I spoke to Bernie Taupin on the phone. I asked him a question, “Bernie, now more than ever people are going to ask me… what does Marconi plays the mamba mean?” He instantly replied, “I have no fucking idea mate, but it sounds good doesn’t it?” Aha!… Sound over sensibility!

Sometimes late at night after more than a little chardonnay, I can envision angry arboreal reptiles emerging from the radio speakers and slithering away into the night, looking for the ship of fools that’s crawling through your schools. I had no idea that “City” would be such a big hit…hell I never even thought of it as a single. I am very happy for the pleasure that “City” brought, and continues to bring, to people all over the world. In my not so humble opinion, something that universal is hardly dreck. Be careful when you jump on the bandwagon…it might hurt when you fall off.

Peace and love,
Mickey

Steve Winwood – Luck’s In YouTube

Most people think “Arc Of A Diver” is Steve Winwood’s first solo album.

But it’s not.

But not only is this first, eponymous LP unknown by most, it’s not even on streaming services. Why, I’m not sure. But I purchased it, and loved two tracks, “Time Is Running Out” and “Luck’s In.”

Winwood never disappointed me. As a matter of fact, I was a big fan of “When The Eagle Flies,” after the disappointment of “Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory.” At the time I was on the road, itinerant, changing residences every couple of months, and without a stereo I depended upon the radio, and that was back when they played songs from all your heroes, at least for a while, irrelevant of AM crossover possibility.

And there were two on FM from “When The Eagle Flies” that I heard regularly, “Walking In The Wind” and “Something New.”

Now “Something New” blew the carbon off the valves of what came before. I mean writing a track “(Sometimes I Feel So) Uninspired”? Sounds like you were on deadline and burned out and you were delivering something to satisfy the record company. Somehow the jauntiness of the early, pre-breakup LPs had been forgotten, but “Something New” returned it. There was no long introduction, the song started off on a tear, and Winwood was going up and down the scale, you couldn’t help but feel good listening to it.

“Luck’s In” was a little darker. And I wouldn’t quite call it jaunty, but Winwood went up and down the scale the same way, as soon as he started to sing, you were enraptured.

Some people get lonely, while some people get blue
But nobody can tell you just what you should do

It’s not science, it’s not mathematics, despite eons no one has the solution to heartbreak, to depression.

But like “Something New,” there was an unexpected change, a left turn in the song that was not predictable, adding to its charm and its ingratiation.

You hold the key in the palm of your hand, my love

Whoa, this isn’t a depressed song really, there’s a hint of optimism.

There’s something about you, I don’t know what you got
But you and me girl, we’re gonna give it a shot

It’s hard to define love, how it happens. Oh, you can be infatuated with someone, be in love with a picture, but that’s very different from interacting and feeling the mutuality, the connection, when you know they’re into you just like you’re into them, that’s really when you feel like your luck’s in, that like Lou Gehrig, you’re the luckiest man on the face of the earth.

I think it’s amazing just what you can do
When somebody wants you and their love is true

Whew! We’re all looking to be wanted. Especially when we come from broken homes, or when we’re emotionally abandoned, even if both of our parents are in residence. You’re looking for this from a young age, even if you can’t put words to it.

And you can’t plan it, you can’t plot it out on paper, you just drift through the world and suddenly it hits you. Then again, you’ve got to interact, you’ve got to get out in the world to have it happen, which can be hard in this virtual, digital age where there’s so much action at home, when you’ve been burned so many times before.

If you saw my love
Then you’d know what I mean
She’s the only one
That makes this world like a dream

Love is like having a baby. Even though it happens regularly, when it happens to you you think you’re the first one to ever experience it. It’s the definition of feeling alive.

And after three minutes, the vocals disappear, it becomes an instrumental track. And just when you think it’s gonna stay the same and fade out, at 3:30 it changes, hits a different plane, and there’s percussion, and you’re wondering what happened to the couple. After testifying Winwood and his love have departed, they’re living their lives, having an adventure, we can hear the mood, but we can’t see the details, they’re off on their own, like every couple in love in the history of the world.

We’re all waiting ’til our luck’s in.