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.

Only in America can you shoot and beat-up people with impunity.

To tell you the truth, those in power see African-Americans and Latinos as THOSE people and refuse to bring justice to these communities, like the police in Rio refuse to go into the favelas.

Now A$AP never should have been held this long without being charged. That’s truly anti-American…or is it? How about all those prisoners in Guantanamo who haven’t been charged, never mind brought to trial? The United States used to be a paragon of fairness, however imperfect, it was the standard the rest of the world looked up to, but no longer.

No, I’m not saying the United States is not the greatest country in the world, but it’s pretty damn good in Scandinavia, and there’s a great safety net and…call it socialism, call it whatever you want, but go there and see if people complain.

But there are certain taboos in other countries, like beating people up. Never mind lying about it.

In the U.S. justice system, where everybody’s entitled to an advocate and a defense, some of the theories proffered in pursuit of innocence are truly head-spinning. They usually don’t succeed, but they permeate the news, making citizens believe there’s no justice and that the rich and powerful experience a different legal system. And that’s true, the average person can’t afford a defense that can obfuscate the crime and get the offender off with a lighter sentence, if not complete exculpation. Hell, isn’t this the story with Jeffrey Epstein?

So, A$AP and his posse go to Sweden and beat-up a couple of people, and say that it was their fault.

Only one problem, THERE WERE CAMERAS!

You want to commit white collar crime these days, and you don’t want a paper trail, which is why many execs won’t email or text, they’ll just talk in person or on the phone, they want no paper trail.

Whereas the hoi polloi, shooting people, beating people up, robbing people… In the U.K. they’ve got cameras everywhere, they got footage of those Russians in town, there to poison that spy. But what did Putin do? DENY, DENY, DENY! Speaking of criminals…

Now do you want a society where you can go around beating people up willy-nilly, getting away with it scot-free? I don’t think so, no matter what community you live in.

But too often you can get away with it in the States, where the cameras are not quite as ubiquitous.

But all of A$AP’s famous friends come out in support, wanting him set free, like Justin Bieber, an uneducated nitwit who tweets “But while your at it” That’s what happens when you don’t get an education, when you tat yourself up and find yourself washed-up with the rest of your life to live. You’re a star today, you’re a joke in the supermarket not long thereafter. And I blame the parents, they should say no. Hell, I dreamed of being on TV when I was a kid, not that there was an opportunity, but now I see what a bad path that is, I’m lucky my parents insisted that I get an education.

And there’s an argument as to whether A$AP Rocky’s arrest was racially motivated, but…just because someone’s an African-American, does that mean they didn’t do it?

As for the Swedes incarcerating him… They’ve got a different system, they hold you and they investigate, especially if you’re a flight risk. And of course A$AP is, why in hell would he go back to Sweden?

And I don’t agree with this system, charge someone immediately and hold them or let them go. But it’s not like they wrote the rules just to hold A$AP, and when you go to another country you’ve got to respect their laws, just like when you go to someone else’s house for dinner!

But unlike in the U.S., A$AP is going to get a prompt trial, supposedly lasting three days, starting next week, as opposed to charged defendants in the U.S. waiting months or years for a trial in the U.S., oftentimes incarcerated all the while.

I think even if found guilty, A$AP should be immediately released. He’s already paid for his crime by being in jail for weeks. As for a fine, doesn’t bother me one way or the other, same deal with whether he can come back to Sweden or not.

But this illustrates pugilistic behavior will not be tolerated around the world, no matter how famous you are, and that the U.S. doesn’t have complete power over the rest of the world, and everything does not go the way our President and our celebrities want it to.

Meanwhile, Bad Bunny cancels European dates to come home and protest with the people against the Governor of Puerto Rico, and then the Governor resigns. Music has power, let’s use it in the right ways.

I don’t care if you’re a fan of Dave or not, you should listen to this podcast. To hear how a middle class boy from the Valley, with a dermatologist father and a cookie-baking mother, made it in music. How he picked up the saxophone to be in his brother’s band and didn’t decide to turn professional until after graduating from UCLA. Dave got a gig with Bobby Caldwell, who insisted Dave “perform” during his solo, engendering Koz’s active stage show, and then Jeff Lorber not only hired him for his band, he helped him make demos to get a record deal.

Dave’s weathered the changes. The soft jazz WAVE format was burgeoning when he began and eventually faded. Dave toured relentlessly and then started his own cruises long before that became de rigueur. In other words, Dave Koz pivoted, and has found his way in the twenty first century by being in the Dave Koz business. And he lives to collaborate, hell, he’s even played with the Foo Fighters!

And in today’s newspaper, there’s a review of the new Tarantino movie that reveals all the plot points, which bugs me, that’s why we go to the movies, for the plot! So I feel anxious about revealing details about Dave’s performance, but I truly want you to listen. Too often you can’t relate to the star’s circumstances, and frequently they can barely get their story across.

But not Dave.

Listen:

iheart

apple

spotify

stitcher