I saw Mayor Pete on “CBS Sunday Morning.”

I was not impressed.

Actually, this is the first time I’ve watched the show. And now I get it, it’s appointment television for those who still remember appointment television. Oldsters. Youngsters expect the world to operate on their own schedule, on demand.

I’ve got nothing against Pete Buttigieg, it’s just that he lacks EXPERIENCE!

There used to be two threads in the music business. Overnight sensation pop stars proffered by the major labels and radio, and acts which practiced, rehearsed, wrote their own songs and made it over time.

Now we primarily have the former. Overnight sensations. Who we’re supposed to give credence to because they are young. Let’s take Billie Eilish. The youngest performer we had in the classic rock era was Peter Noone, aka Herman. It was believed you had to have experience, you had to have lived in order to have something to say, in order to be great.

Let’s be honest, America has lived through a tech revolution in the past thirty years. And most boomers are not up to speed. They can post to Facebook, they can iMessage, but they don’t know how the software works, as a matter of fact, they’re still into hardware, gadgets. Whereas youngsters have grown up in an era of no tech help, where you figure it out by yourself and the landscape always changes. The youngsters don’t know everything, but they ride the tiger, unlike the ignorant congressman who complained to the Google exec that his iPhone didn’t work properly. The answer was obvious, it’s a different OS, Android vs. iOS, but this oldster didn’t get it.

And Joe Biden doesn’t get it, he doesn’t realize that unwanted touch is taboo, he’s just saying he didn’t mean it, and that it was meaningless. Kinda like someone who employs epithets against blacks and Jews and claims as an excuse that they’ve never met one before.

And Bernie Sanders has experience, but he’s old too. Let’s be honest, if you’re in Congress you don’t have time to play Fortnite, you’re so busy you oftentimes don’t know how the world truly works. You’re aware of the big concepts, but not the little events that burgeon and change society.

So where do we go from here?

Somehow, experience has been denigrated, and fresh and new exalted. Oldsters can’t get their music heard, no matter how good it might be. The system is biased against it. Then again, so many of these acts do boffo at the b.o.

In other words is Mayor Pete Lil Nas X, someone who captures the public imagination for a moment but has very little beneath the surface?

Come on, being mayor is not like being governor, or a congressperson, but our nation has changed. It’s a combination of veneration of the new and young and the lack of hope. We’re holding on to hope wherever we can get it.

I understand the appeal of Mayor Pete. Especially in the way he stood up to Pence. But you listen to him talk and you realize Trump is gonna mow him right down in the debates. We need someone battle tested. Not in Afghanistan, but government.

As for the right, the CONSERVATIVES, they just want to go back to the past. As if iOS 2 was as good as iOS 12. As if electric cars are not the future and coal is not fading. The right criticizes, but has no new ideas.

And the media wants eyeballs. They want action. And if you’re boring but great, no one cares.

Now boomers are not going to live forever, but there’s no plan for handing over the baton. In the live business, it’s almost all alta kachers, no one’s letting go. And at the labels, there’s a dearth of young talent because there’s no upward mobility. The youth are unnecessarily stifled.

But the youth are the ones who oftentimes push the envelope, unaware of what they don’t know, and change the world. But when they’re on top, like Mark Zuckerberg, they’re out of touch with reality, they can’t manage what they’ve built. Never forget, Steve Jobs wasn’t the man you know until he went off into the the wilderness and lost with NeXT and gained some experience, especially in how you deal with people.

Government is a job. Not anybody can do it. But the public and the media think everybody’s able. Do you want Oprah flying your plane? Doing your taxes? Defending you in court? OF COURSE NOT! You want someone who’s been in the field for decades to handle those jobs. Why do we think anybody can be President? Why do we think anybody can be a pop star?

And the truth is experienced studio musicians played on the pop hits of yore. And the Beatles slugged it out in Hamburg before anybody knew who they were, playing essentially all day.

Now you get to the 10,000 hour rule. But those who are truly aware of it know it’s 10,000 hours of HARD PRACTICE! Not dicking around. We want pros behind the wheel.

Which is why so many oldsters can’t understand the music of today. The players/singers/rappers have so little experience that they don’t resonate with them.

So if Mayor Pete goes to Congress, or becomes Governor, maybe he’ll be ready. But what’s next, the student council president running for Senate? Or maybe the Presidency itself!

But that’s America, there’s no center.

There used to Rockefeller Republicans, who were fiscally conservative, but socially progressive.

There used to be the fairness rule in media. It all wasn’t about clicks. The press was a public trust. Now it’s oftentimes no different from reality television, and the wankers at home can’t tell true from false.

Which is why a strongman like Trump appeals. He’s gonna boil it down to those damn foreigners and a few other bogeymen and tell you if you give him all the power, he’ll eliminate the problem.

And the left is so busy fighting over everybody’s personal rights that they’ve lost sight of the big picture.

It’s like we’ve got all this technology, but it hasn’t been integrated into the world. The major labels run their operations like it’s still the twentieth century, radio too. There are just a few hits, which are either pop or hip-hop, when the truth is there are more scenes than ever but they just don’t get major traction. And the irony is those fighting it out in the trenches survive on experience. Because you’ve got to be good to survive all by your lonesome.

But that’s not the game anymore. It’s all about flash. As if we’re supposed to take the influencers, whored out to the corporations, seriously.

We need new vision, we need hope, but it can’t be based on a rickety foundation. You’ve got to give the Republicans one thing, they think long term, like with the Federalist Society. Why is everything so immediate when life is long and we must think of the future?

We’re just investing in pop stars.

But people want to see holograms of dead musicians.

But we’re supposed to be convinced the new acts are nascent Frank Zappas or Roy Orbisons.

I don’t think so.

Yes, Larry David’s manager Jeff Greene on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and Murray Goldberg from “The Goldbergs.” Jeff talks about both of those shows, going into how he convinced Larry to do the special that led to the series, as well as talking about his comedy career. He knew his future path upon seeing Jimmy Durante live in his formative years.

Jeff was the most popular guy in his high school class, he knows everybody, and when you listen to this podcast you’ll know why. He’s friendly, he’s gregarious and giving.

You’re gonna enjoy this.

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The POlice in New York City
They chased a boy right through the park

“Goats Head Soup” was a disappointment after “Exile On Main Street.” Then again, what could follow up that two-disc set.

Now “Exile On Main Street” did not set the world on fire. It entered the chart at number one and fell off by time the Stones completed their ’72 tour. Yes, you could get a ticket in ’69, if you were hip to “Let It Bleed.” But most people were not. After the misstep of “Satanic Majesties,” the Beatles had eclipsed the Stones. It was suddenly no contest, until “Beggars Banquet.”

Well-reviewed, “Sympathy For The Devil” and “Street Fighting Man” really didn’t get much airplay. The former really didn’t become famous until the Altamont movie.

But then came “Let It Bleed,” with its eerie intro track “Gimmie Shelter.” You could drop the needle, turn out the light, and venture to another land. And this was before “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” was in “The Big Chill,” the band was still playing to fans.

And then came “Sticky Fingers.”

That was the Stones’ “Thriller.” When it all added up. With Mick Taylor wailing and an Andy Warhol cover with a real zipper, “Brown Sugar” was ubiquitous. The party didn’t start until it was played. It was the anthem of Friday night. And the pent-up demand from “Sticky Fingers” filled arenas on the ’72 tour. There really hasn’t been anything like it since, in terms of the news coverage. Every stop generated photos and ink. Truman Capote was along for the ride. And Princess Radish, aka Lee Radziwill. There was a private plane and debauchery and the film of the tour, “Cocksucker Blues,” has never been released, although Annie Leibovitz’s photo of Keith Richards in shades by the water cooler became iconic, it enhanced Keith’s rep.

And the paradigm being a new studio album before every tour, “Exile On Main Street” was released just before the band hit the road. And although “Tumbling Dice” got airplay, Linda Ronstadt’s cover had more impact. But the band was on the road and you needed to own the album and if you listened to it enough, you got it. It’s dark, it’s unique, today it is legendary, back then it was seen as an of the moment relative stiff.

But how do you follow that up?

The truth is the band couldn’t. “Goats Head Soup” was a disappointment.

We read about “Star******,” but when it was released, it was entitled “Star Star,” which seemed too safe. It wasn’t the band’s call, but the holding back of profanity stuck to them.

Now once again, with time “Goats Head Soup”‘s rep has improved.

Actually, “Angie” got traction on the radio, but Johnny Winter rode the “Silver Train” longer than the Stones. But the second side of the LP, with “Hide Your Love,” “Winter” and “Can You Hear The Music,” was trance-like.

But my favorite song on the album was the one quoted above, “Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker).” Never a hit, it’s still one of my favorite Stones songs. Especially the way Mick Jagger emotes.

And I know every lick of “Goats Head Soup” by heart, but I hadn’t thought of it recently until I saw Andrew Zimmern’s show “Bizarre Foods: Delicious: Delicious Destinations” tonight.

I know the legend of Anthony Bourdain, but I’ve never seen his show. Ditto on Zimmern, even though I’ve read all about him. I know he checked in to Hazelden, I know he lives in Minneapolis, but… That’s me, I’m a print guy. Who’s got time for TV shows?

But tonight while eating a hamburger Felice had the “Cooking Channel” on and lo and behold the host was Andrew Zimmern, and they were in Tel Aviv, and they were going to the hot spots to uncover shawarma and other delicacies and I couldn’t take my eyes off the show, I wanted to go.

And when the clock struck nine, it shifted to “Bizarre Foods,” and now the location was Kingston, Jamaica. I’ve never been there. Yes, it was de rigueur to go to the islands when I was in high school, but I was too busy skiing. And I loved Johnny Nash’s “I Can See Clearly Now” and purchased “Burnin'” and “Natty Dread” but I really didn’t get Marley until the live album in ’75. One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain. But you know that.

And they go through a long explanation of how you make jerk chicken, and it was pretty interesting, but then they moved on to goat curry.

And I saw the head. And I started to think of the Stones album and its title but there wasn’t a soup, until…

They had a whole segment on “mannish water.” And as I’m watching, I realize this is it, GOATS HEAD SOUP!

There was no internet back then. And the mainstream media barely covered rock and roll. You had to read the rags, like “Rolling Stone,” “Creem” and “Fusion,” but so many questions were left unanswered.

And I always exalted the performers, never thought I was their equal, always thought they were special, not like you and me.

But as time has passed, I realize so much of what I thought was hassled over and debated was an instant choice at the last minute.

I don’t know what inspired the Stones to name the album “Goats Head Soup,” but now I finally know what it is!

Every technological revolution changes the music.

The invention of the 33 1/3 vinyl album allowed the creation of “Rubber Soul” and then “Sgt. Pepper.” Suddenly the album was a statement instead of a single and a bunch of filler. Then when you could no longer simulcast your AM stream on FM, we got free-form radio. Then MTV came along and made it about how you looked. And without a hit single, you were toast. And then streaming came along and killed the gatekeepers.

The barrier to the creation of music is essentially nonexistent. You can make it on your laptop and for a small fee get it on all streaming services, not that anyone will listen to it. As a result there’s a plethora of product. Those prognosticators of yore said Napster and the internet would kill the production of music, just the opposite has happened.

And now you can break a record without radio. Radio comes last, not first. As for MTV, it’s a non-factor. The labels angry they didn’t get a piece of it should just be glad Murdoch bought MySpace. In other words, music is forever, the platform is not, stay in your lane.

But now the major labels’ lane is signing what is commercial and only commercial. The system needs hits. Furthermore, the labels rarely develop the acts, rather the acts develop themselves and the labels poach them. But if you’re not making hip-hop or pop, or country, no one wants you, does that mean no one wants your genre of music? No.

You see on Spotify, et al, there’s no massaging of the data. A stream is a stream. Such that in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. In other words, the Spotify Top 50 counts, after that?

The labels and the media are oriented towards this. Hell, seemingly every newspaper prints the “Billboard” Top Ten every week. There’s this focus on the most popular, when the most popular is less popular than ever before.

So no one can force a hit. It’s not about your relationship with radio or TV, that’s not where the active listeners are. Ask any publicity person, other than “CBS Sunday Morning” and SNL, no television appearance moves the needle. When people can see video for free, on YouTube, why should they make an appointment? As for appointments, this is what is killing the old time players, both the networks and the cable channels, they don’t realize the consumer makes the appointment now, they’re in control, and if they can’t watch it when they want to, oftentimes they don’t watch it at all.

And you put out your album and nothing happens.

But why should there be an album?

Albums used to be half an hour, but then when CDs replaced vinyl and cassettes, an album could be seventy minutes, who had the time? But it was financially lucrative. Now the economics are completely different. Oftentimes only the hit is streamed, listeners are not interested in the rest of the dreck. So why make it? This is the tradition musicians can’t understand. Sure, if you have an album you can get reviews, you can concentrate your publicity around it, but it doesn’t matter! Only your fans are gonna listen anyway.

So you can do whatever you want. Which is one of the reasons hip-hop and pop dominate. They don’t wait years between releases, they put out multiple albums a year, singles whenever they want to, they’re in touch with the audience, those in the other genres are not.

And since hip-hop lives online, it dominates the streaming chart. We knew hip-hop was popular, we didn’t know it was THIS popular until streaming, just like we didn’t know country was that popular until Soundscan.

Now some might say playlists are the new gatekeepers. But the truth is, list makers don’t want to piss off the labels, who they depend upon. There was one playlist that mattered, Rap Caviar, and then Tuma Basa bolted to YouTube for more money and was never heard from again. And if Alphabet were smart, it would buy Spotify today, because none of their streaming services have gotten traction, and YouTube and Spotify would meld together well.

Now in the old days, the hits were all that mattered. Then FM gave non-single acts spins and whole new genres of music flared. But this is not happening in streaming because everybody’s still hampered by the old model, where only the big hits matter.

But then Lee Abrams came along and codified FM playlists and AOR radio was king and the music business was never healthier.

Will someone come along and codify Spotify and the rest of the streaming services? That’s what we’re waiting for, someone to make sense of the tsunami of tracks. But the streaming services are run by techies, and if they promote one track they leave another out and the industry gets pissed, whereas with radio music was just fuel for advertising, where the real dollars were. But music is the heartbeat of the streaming services.

So now what?

This limited genre streaming will come to an end eventually. Something will break the hegemony. Because there’s too much unoccupied land waiting to be inhabited. This is how Warner/Reprise became the dominant label in the seventies, they signed multiple genres of acts, no one does that anymore.

And the labels are downsizing and investing in anything but music as they continue to try and make their nut. So they’re leaving a giant opportunity.

The internet has proven there’s an audience for everything, however small in some cases. But in music, we’re narrowing the offerings, that makes no sense.

All we hear about is Beyonce, is she truly the only thing happening in music? This myopic focus on limited product is the antithesis of the internet ethos. It’s why AT&T canned the old regime at HBO. Sure, it was the true Tiffany network, but it didn’t make enough product! In other words, AT&T was smarter than the Hollywooders.

And there are a lot of people smarter than those in music.

But there’s just not enough money in it.

But there will be. And then we’ll see change.