He’s keeping the summer alive and is about to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame…you’ll definitely learn some stuff you don’t know!

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mike-love/id1316200737?i=1000708570397

 

 

 

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/8eb46db6-86b7-4034-8a5d-bc3966ffe1f1/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-mike-love

 

“The King of In Between”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hepRCtfJAkc

1

How did this guy stay alive? How did he pay the bills?

That’s what I was thinking watching this movie.

Then…

This stuff is always pure hagiography. The worst was that Bee Gees documentary that said in the sixties they were as big as the Beatles. I lived through that era and that’s laughable, the brothers Gibb had a number of hits, but so did a bunch of other acts. There were not rabid Bee Gees fans showing fainting at gigs, but if you pay for your own movie, you get to tell the tale you want to. Oftentimes leaving out the negative. It was clear sailing and…

For a minute there, I got caught up in the reality distortion field. I asked myself whether I’d missed it, whether Garland was bigger than I perceived. But nah, that’s just the way the story is spun.

However, I was completely surprised when they told the truth at the end, that Garland had mellowed, was happy where he was at, proud of his work and doing house concerts for his fans.

That’s the truth. Or was, before Garland retired from the road, after all he’s now 81.

Now it used to be completely different, you were no one if you didn’t have a record deal. And if you did…you were a god.

You’ve got to remember, unless you were living in New York and Los Angeles and actually bumped into these people, you were caught up in the hype. The magazine articles, the advertisements. The one for Garland’s A&M debut said it contained the legendary “Wild in the Streets.” Legendary WHERE? But reading the rag you thought it was happening somewhere and you just missed it. Everybody was not so cynical. There was no access, you were always trying to get inside, never realizing that inside wasn’t so special.

It’s a business. Jerry Moss signs Garland and ultimately drops him. If you don’t make the company money, they don’t need you.

And it was completely different from today, when acts make most of their money on the road.

Timing counts, and if Garland Jeffreys came out today he’d be bigger than he was back then. He wouldn’t get the same press attention, but people could listen to his songs online, spread the word and then he could cement the deal live. And today the road can keep you alive, especially if you’re better than the average bear.

Which Garland Jeffreys definitely was.

But he wasn’t good enough.

“Greetings from Asbury Park” got a lot of press but stiffed upon release. Sure, ultimately Manfred Mann had a hit with “Blinded by the Light,” but radio airplay was nonexistent and the record sounded just like the hype, another folk singer in the mold of Bob Dylan. I purchased the LP and loved “Spirit in the Night” and liked “Growin’ Up,” and based on that I purchased the follow-up, “The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle.” And suddenly there was a BAND! I went back to “Greetings” and realized the band was there, but turned way, way down. It was all about the second side, “Incident on 57th Street” segueing into “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight),” which sped up and became intense and was even self-referential, talking about the record company giving Bruce a big advance, and based on this I went to see the band at the Bottom Line, a year before “Born to Run,” months before Jon Landau said he’d seen the future of rock and roll.

I’d already seen it. And was energized and spread the word.

So it was that second record (but let’s not forget “Kitty’s Back” on side one either), the live shows and Landau’s endorsement that sealed the deal. To a great degree it was luck. Then again, if you saw the live show, it was undeniable.

But almost all the acts DIDN’T break. They might have had a good song, or were good but not great live or didn’t get the promotion they deserved, but it’s a crapshoot. I give props to those who give up. If you’re putting bread on the table, if you’re doing it on a lark, that’s cool. But if you’re forty and married with a family and you still think you’re going to have a hit…it’s sad and delusional.

Because the ugly truth is the public didn’t want you, and will never want you. It’s different for every act, but usually the hit just isn’t there and never will be.

2

I bought “Ghost Writer.” I liked “Wild in the Streets,” the attitude, the groove, the lyrics, but the bottom line is it was never going to be a radio hit. The sound was a bit thin. It just didn’t have that je ne sais quoi. As for the rest of the album, it was listenable, and I listened to it, but it didn’t have that one track I had to listen to over and over again.

But I went to see Jeffreys at the Roxy. He gave it his all, he was a very good performer, but the material was not up to his performance.

And it never was.

So this documentary starts off starf*cking, with testimonials from the household names Garland knows/hung out with. He went to Syracuse with Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson endorses him. The Boss. Other less well known people.

And then the story begins.

Is there an issue of racism?

ABSOLUTELY!

But a hit is undeniable, and Garland didn’t have one.

I bought the follow-up albums, “One-Eyed Jack” and “American Boy & Girl,” they were solid, but not the kind of records that called out to be played.

And then I stopped.

And Garland started to fall off the radar screen. The eighties came along with MTV and wiped out so many acts. Sure, Garland was authentic, but he was not the only one. Do you know “American Gothic” by David Ackles, produced by Bernie Taupin? Takes a while to get into, it was out of sync with the times, but it was cinematic and ultimately Ackles taught musical theatre at USC. I mean you have to pay the bills somehow.

Jeffreys was bigger than Ackles, but where’s the money? (As Dan Hicks so famously asked.) The film talks about “Matador” being a hit in Europe, and Garland speaks about the mailbox money it generated. Is this how he’s survived all these years? Maybe I’m out of the loop. But I just checked Spotify and “Matador” only has 7,999,815 streams, and that doesn’t pay the rent. And in the physical era, good luck finding a store that stocked Jeffreys’ records. As for airplay money… Were they really playing this track so much over the decades?

No, it’s a positive spin.

Not that Garland is not likable. But a friend talks about him being angry, and how people don’t want to deal with angry people. This is kinda true, or you need a buffer between the act and the business people. They want the music to be angry and powerful, but not you, how does that work?

It usually doesn’t. But when it comes down to business, people want it to be easy, or easier, if you’re a troublemaker they’re usually out.

So Jeffreys loses his A&M deal. And that’s his fourth label, Arista didn’t even release any music, and that’s a good run, but Jeffreys is done. Until he ultimately gets deals at Epic and RCA.

More than one outfit gave Garland Jeffreys a chance, and no one could break him.

Add up all the reasons why, and it always comes down to the music. Jeffreys says the label didn’t promote “Matador” in America… But all those record companies? They gave Garland a good shot, and it never worked.

3

So sans commercial success how do we judge someone’s career?

Well, in many cases we don’t, because we just don’t care. Sometimes acts are unjustly passed over, even though they’re truly great, but dem’s the breaks. And like I said above, the less than stars get much bigger breaks today. The indie share of the pie keeps growing on Spotify.

But people want a return to the old days.

But how good were they?

The labels kept Garland Jeffreys alive, but when they were done he was years older without much at all. No way to contact the fans he did have. There was no social media.

But this is where the film takes a turn. Garland is thrilled with his family. Happy able to just continue to make and perform music.

They’re dropping like flies. Jerry Moss is gone. Soon not only will Jeffreys be gone, but those who lived through his career.

It ultimately becomes meaningless, everything is plowed under.

So what is life about?

Well, if it’s about leaving a legacy, trying to force people to remember you, that doesn’t work and it’s creepy.

But ultimately this documentary doesn’t do that, and I was very surprised. I stopped thinking about how the bills were paid and was more intrigued by Garland’s acceptance of his career. Proud of his output, thrilled to play to the fans that do care and…

He’s not the only one.

But Garland came closer than most. And he was an original. And he went through all the steps, even had a band that played the Fillmore East.

But he ended up an also-ran.

However, according to the movie, he’s happy with that.

If only we all were.

“Hung Up on a Dream”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JctjMqtsFsU

What do you do after the band breaks up?

The records may be rich and famous, but you may be broke.

That was my second favorite part of this documentary. The band expires and Colin Blunstone has to get a straight job. He’s working in an insurance office and everybody knows who he is, after all, he’s been on television, but now he’s a working stiff just like them, it’s cognitive dissonance.

As for drummer Hugh Grundy… He eventually gets a job as an A&R guy at CBS Records, but then loses that job and becomes…a driver?

Paul Atkinson helped get him that gig. That was the word on the street back in the pre-internet days, that guy with the glasses, the record executive who seemed serious and self-confident, he was in the ZOMBIES! Not quite as hard to square as Colin Blunstone working in an insurance office, but at least he had a job.

As for Rod Argent and Chris White?

They wrote the songs that made the whole world go wow, so they were all right. The money is always in the publishing, never forget it.

If there’s any bad vibes amongst the group they’re absent from this documentary, which is a relatively straightforward tale of the Zombies’ rise, fall and reascension. This film is a document for posterity, in case anybody wonders who the Zombies were. If you’re a fan, if you were a muso, if you were ANYBODY back in the sixties you know much of this story, however this film was not made on the cheap, there’s some great footage.

As for my favorite part of the flick…

Well, it’s made up of two parts, the Murray the K Christmas show at the Brooklyn Fox and Dick Clark’s Caravan of Stars.

As for Murray the K… You see him on stage, and it brings back all the memories, of a day when the deejay was cool. You had no idea how most of them looked. As for the shows…if only you could be there!

As for the Caravan of Stars… I actually saw that 1965 tour at Atlantic City’s Steel Pier. Peter and Gordon were the headliners. Alas, the Zombies were not on that date.

But on that tour… They rode around in a bus. a traditional Greyhound-style bus, you know, with two by two seating. And one night they slept in a hotel and on the other…THEY SLEPT IN THE BUS! No, not a coffin bunk like today’s touring machines, but sitting up!

Touring was hard back then.

And when it was over, the Zombies never had any cash. They ultimately learned they were being ripped-off, fired their manager and never had another hit until after they broke up. The manager counts. And they’re a lot more honest today than they used to be.

The business has always been populated by hustlers, you’re always getting ripped-off, to this day. However, back then the modern business was being formed, now it’s institutionalized. A promoter stiffed them on a gig, to their face he told the Zombies he wasn’t going to pay them, and he didn’t. This does not happen with Live Nation!

As for that Dick Clark tour… The story is just as you’ve heard it, all the bands singing along on the ride. And when they ask the Zombies to participate, they sing an a cappella version of the Beatles’ “If I Fell” and earn applause. And I’m sitting there thinking about this and then I realize I can sing every word to “If I Fell” right now, and it’s sixty years later!

They gloss over the writing of “She’s Not There” and “Tell Her No.” Rod Argent just went home and wrote them. But really, how did this happen? Two iconic numbers, just when you’re starting out? Rod talks a bit about the inspiration for the lyrics, but still…he’s wet behind the ears, where does this come from?

And everybody has a band, kind of like everybody is a social media influencer today/

“I Love You” is not mentioned, which was a big hit for People! in the U.S., and to be honest I never knew it was a Zombies song until I heard it on XM in the early days of that service. After all, I hadn’t bought the albums. And if you didn’t buy the albums, you usually didn’t know, there was nowhere else to hear this stuff

And there really isn’t that much to say about the Zombies, they weren’t around that long. The movie is halfway through and they’ve broken up. Now what?

But they do go into Argent, they follow up everybody’s career thereafter and…

It’s very hard to survive as a musician. Especially if you never wrote the songs. Everybody may know your name but that does not put food on the table. And Paul Atkinson left the band because he got married, imagine that happening today!

As for record labels, not only did they used to be glamorous, they used to shuffle the deck every few years and good luck surviving, especially if you were an A&R person. Which is what happened to Hugh Grundy. But today, the labels are mausoleums whose halls are filled with the same damn people, even worse, we don’t care who they are. We know the guys who run the big three, but that’s about it. all the action is in touring, or outside the system completely, individuals cooking up stuff in their bedrooms.

Yes, it used to be different. And if you want to know how it was, “Hung Up on a Dream” will tell you.

But so many of these stories do not have happy endings, there is no Al Kooper rescuing “Time of the Season” after the band’s demise, there is no future money, only bad feelings and broken friendships. As for people remembering your name… Up until the Zombies renaissance in the twenty first century only the hard core knew who Colin Blunstone was, after all he never had another hit in America. If you were a dedicated student you knew he had albums in England, but that as might as well have been Venus.

But other than Paul, they’re all still here, surviving.

However, since the making of this documentary Rod Argent had a stroke and has retired from the road, which may go on forever but you may not be on it.

The business is forever, you are not. If you’re lucky, the records do. Really, the Zombies had two, “She’s Not There” and “Time of the Season.” At this late date the latter gets all the mentions, but if you were dedicated to the radio in the winter of 64-65 not only do you know “She’s Not There,” it’s got an indelible place in your heart because of the sound…dark and meaningful, evidence of the British Invasion, which was not all upbeat and sunny. These records were not here today and gone tomorrow, they were forever, they touched our SOULS!

MAX trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMqGLjgBtbs

This is a slight series, but it will warm your heart.

What we’ve got here is a female rabbi who is not accepted by her father, that’s not the gig he envisioned for her and he won’t let her forget it, he slights her on a regular basis. Which is kind of weird, because he’s a psychotherapist and you’d think he’d be more enlightened.

As for the rabbi, Léa, she’s played by Elsa Guedj, who is not classically beautiful but over the length of the series you fall in love with her. Because she thinks, has emotions and desires, but does not carry the weight of the world upon her shoulders.

What I mean is she does have to give members of the congregation advice, but too many people today have chips on their shoulders, believing they’re somehow disadvantaged and if things were just a bit different, they’d be rich and successful.

So what we’ve got here is a family of divorce. The mother is never seen. As for the brother? He’s a good-natured doofus who we ultimately find out sells real estate. but seems to be most interested in a good time. But ultimately we find out he is not a doofus, and the sibling relationship between him and his sister…there is common knowledge and shared intimacies, yet the frustrations is very real. These are the people we know, our family members. And sometimes they drive us nuts, but they’re bedrock, we can interact with them and they know who we are.

But then there’s the driver of the new synagogue who used to be an observant Jew who no longer talks to his siblings who live in Israel because that’s no longer how he practices.

Every episode presents a dilemma. And the viewer doesn’t have a ready answer to the problem. And neither does Léa At first she believes she must, but ultimately she listens to the story, rolls with the changes and comes up with some advice, which later she might contradict.

Each one of these characters you’ve met in real life. Whether it be the kid who doesn’t want a bar mitzvah or the parent who doesn’t want their kid circumcised or the one who keeps their private life hidden for no understandable reason.

There are no gunfights. There is a death, then again, that’s what happens in life, it’s natural.

And everything that happens in the series is natural.

And you don’t have to be Jewish to love Levy’s rye bread, and you don’t have to be Jewish to like “Reformed,” but if you are, you’ll laugh and smile during the seder scene.

So not every episodes resolves. But you get caught up in the rhythm.

And “Reformed” is not a huge commitment, eight episodes about a half hour each.

And I don’t know if you’ll hear about it from anyone but me. I heard about it from the “New York Times,” but then I did research to confirm its quality before I dove in.

“Reformed” is not a masterpiece, it’s a slice of life, and last I checked, that’s what we’re all doing, living life, so I know you can relate.

P.S. MAX is the worst app known to man. Zaslav gets paid tens of millions of dollars, if only he put some of it into tech. For some reason, about halfway through “Reformed,” the subtitles switched to Cyrillic, maybe Greek, who knows. And no matter how much you mess with the settings you can’t fix it. Although sometimes, after the opening credits, which play after the opening scene, the subtitles switch back to English. The only fix I found was to exit the episode and start again, after checking that your settings were correct, i.e. French audio, English closed captions, not that this always worked.