They’re never gonna let you be a member of the club.

What did they say in school, your mistake is gonna go on your permanent record?

I binged “Breaking Bad.” I checked out an episode when the mania hit, after it was on Netflix, and I didn’t get it. I still think “The Sopranos” is the best drama ever on television. As for “The Wire”? I tried, but I couldn’t get into it. Tried again recently, but it’s so dated and…

I only binge. I do not watch from week to week. I decide on a show and I go deep. This is satisfying, to get to know the characters, and there’s no waiting, I can watch as many episodes as I want in a row, cruise from season to season.

And usually I watch these series out of time, as in the buzz is off. I guess it’s part of my identity. I was never a member of the cool group. I always wanted things for my own. And when everybody is talking about a series, when everybody owns it, they don’t want to hear your take, especially if it does not coincide with that of the group. I like my stuff personal, just for me.

But eventually we binged “Breaking Bad,” got into it. To tell you the truth, I liked “The Americans” better, but I don’t mean that as a put-down of “Breaking Bad.”

“Breaking Bad” is weird. It’s shot fast and flat in a world where network television spends more money on the image than the story, where it’s all about beautiful people doing fake things. But the people in “Breaking Bad” were not classically beautiful, they were just people living their lives. As for Walter White…he took the road less taken and ended up a teacher as opposed to rich. And when someone is rich, they’re envied in our society, they’re better than us. I was having a conversation with someone last week and they put me down in the most obtuse of ways. I know it had more to do with them than me, but I also couldn’t get over the fact that this person made seven figures, and that’d be quite a reach for me.

But being a regular person is not enough. Everybody wants to be rich and famous, who you are is nearly irrelevant.

And then there are those too scared to veer from the beaten path, who do what their parents tell them to do, become doctors and lawyers and then are pissed when the risk-takers supersede them in society.

But it’s different from the seventies. In the seventies you could take some time to figure out who you wanted to be. Now, anybody with a brain is on a path. Because they don’t want to fall on the lesser side. One where you can’t make ends meet and opportunities are few. Where the DNC and Democratic elites have contempt for you. Be sure, the people who have money in today’s society worked hard for it, grubbed grades, toiled around the clock, and they don’t have sympathy for those who did not. Furthermore, with morals out the window it’s no longer about the common good, but the personal good. I can rationalize my behavior and as long as it puts food on the table, I’m good. Like this other person in the music business who acted like a Mafia Don, also in the seven figure club, who when confronted with his bad behavior told me “I’m just trying to feed my family.” When he made enough money to feed his whole neighborhood.

So when these series end you feel hollow, you want more, and in the case of “Breaking Bad” there was more, the prequel, “Better Call Saul.”

Now I’ve followed Bob Odenkirk for a long time, but I never did cotton to “Mr. Show” and I figured he was just another comedian looking to pay the rent, acting for the bucks, until I saw him in “Breaking Bad.” He owns the screen. And he owns the screen in “Better Call Saul.”

In addition to being flat in image, these two Vince Gilligan shows have their own pace, which is slow, akin to real life. You have to get into the rhythm, you too have to slow down, if you’re looking for a hit of adrenaline, these shows are not for you. But if you watch them, they’re extremely rewarding.

Now by time I was ready, by time I finished “Breaking Bad,” there were already three seasons of “Better Call Saul,” which I hoovered right up.

And I was eager for the fourth, but it was on AMC, as in weekly TV.

I caught the first three, but then I got busy and missed a few and then went to on demand and…THEY ELIMINATED THE NEXT EPISODES! And this is crazy, I’m paying for cable, why should I get screwed, the series wasn’t finished, but you could no longer see episodes four and five, and I need to see everything in order, I take my series seriously.

And I wasn’t gonna buy it. That’s an insult. Actually, the entire TV industrial complex is an insult. Did you ever check how many streaming services there are? Read about a series and find out you don’t get that service. And I used to pay for each and every cable station because I wanted instant access, to be able to survey the entire culture, but in today’s world where nobody can know everything, I refuse to sign up for so many apps. The distributors think they’re winning, but they’re actually losing. The record business realized this. And put all the content in one place for one price. Which they used to call cable, but now it’s even worse! It feels like there will be as many streaming services as shows! Forget Amazon, Netflix and Hulu, never mind AppleTV+, Disney+ and CBS All Access. How about MHz, or Sundance Now or BritBox or Mubi or… Once again, distribution is king, if you’re not on one of the popular streaming services, your work will never be seen, at least not in quantity. As for viewers? This is today’s America, where the customer is thought of last, even though the customer rules. This is how Trump got elected and Bernie Sanders may get the nomination, because there are more screwed than screwers.

And to be honest, when I picked up with episode four of “Better Call Saul” this week I couldn’t remember much of what happened in the three previous episodes, but I wasn’t gonna go back and watch them, I soldiered on.

Now what you’ve got to know is Jimmy McGill, aka Saul Goodman, played by Bob Odenkirk, is a nogoodnik. He can’t fly straight, he’s always hustling, he’s always getting in trouble. And his older brother is a prince, a legendary attorney who is hobbled by his phobias. We’re all imperfect, we’ve all got flaws, whether we show them to another or not. And it’s the most rich and powerful who are the most tortured, because they cannot share their troubles because they are afraid of getting judged. Forget the actors and musicians who go to rehab, who air their dirty laundry, that’s a marketing tool. But for not only the billionaires, for not only the rich and famous, but for the stockbrokers and attorneys and doctors, they too believe in a hierarchy and they don’t want to fall down a few pegs, possibly permanently.

So Jimmy tries to change his spots but he can’t. He loves the game too much. He’s first and foremost a salesman.

Ever sell?

It depletes you. Because if you care about your customers, you fall down the food chain. You’ve got to sell what you don’t want to, you’ve got to overcharge, you’ve got to be fake, you’ve got to lie, all to put food in your mouth. And salespeople rule the world. What did they call it, Steve Jobs’s “reality distortion field”?

And Jimmy’s got a girlfriend, who is also an attorney, who vacillates between being the good girl and the bad, between working for the bank and the indigent. Most of us are conflicted. Few of us are singular, we always wonder if we should be doing something else, if we’re wasting our time, if the hourglass is gonna run out of sand.

But Jimmy’s girlfriend Kim Wexler, played by Rhea Seehorn, stands by Jimmy. Oh, when he pushes the limits really far, she winces, but she maintains the bond, does not have one foot out the door…

You see she’s thrilled by Jimmy’s personality, who he is.

So many are good on paper. But we’re attracted to those with a spark, who can make things happen, who can educate us, who help us have fun. And that’s Jimmy.

Not that Kim sacrifices everything, not that she blindly follows Jimmy. As for sharing an office…

So, the season is ending. We’re gonna find out if Jimmy is gonna get his law license back.

And suddenly there’s a boardroom meeting, at the law firm of Chuck, Jimmy’s deceased brother.

You’re not sure if this is a flashback, you’re not sure what is going on.

But then you realize they’re giving out scholarships, in Chuck’s name.

And when the voting comes in, the three ass-kissers, the three world-beaters, triumph.

But Jimmy has a problem with this. What about the girl who made a mistake, is that gonna haunt her forever?

Spoiler alert!

So, she doesn’t get it. But Jimmy tracks her down, and gives this high school student a piece of his mind, life instruction. Instead of being all fake, telling her “good try,” Jimmy says she’s never gonna be a member of the club, they’re never gonna let her in, but if she digs down deep and does it her way, she can succeed, at even a higher level than her tormentors.

Hmm…

Jimmy also tells her to cut corners.

But the truth is the hustlers take over the world.

Those with the pedigree get mowed right over. It’s those hobbled by a mistake, who didn’t grub for grades, who did not go to the best college, who were not a member of the group, who change society.

Shawn Fanning was not rich and he did not go to Harvard.

You see you dismiss these people at your peril. You don’t learn everything in books, and intelligence is not only revealed in paper tests.

The outsiders are incentivized.

And it’s not only a matter of education, but being a member of the group. Which is why outsiders like Mark Zuckerberg won. He was never the cool insider. So many of these tech bros were not.

But they succeeded beyond their wildest dreams, they pushed the envelope when most people couldn’t even see it. Those investing in tech companies today…they’re weak also-rans. Unless you’re willing to put it all on the line out beyond the limits, you’re not changing society, and you’re probably not even getting rich.

And just like Jimmy McGill, so many of these tech bros (and most are male) are clueless as to where the moral line is. Since they were not a member of the group, they don’t know how to abide by the rules of society. They love being rich and powerful, because now they can grab some of those perks that were off limits to them before. Kind of like Mike Bloomberg, did you see today’s “Washington Post” article?

“Mike Bloomberg for years has battled women’s allegations of profane, sexist comments”

It may have been years ago, it may not affect his chances, but this is a great illustration of an outsider nerd bucking the system to gain success and then act imperiously in unaccepted ways.

So, the new season of “Better Call Saul” starts next week. I guess I’ll set the DVR, but I hate forwarding through the commercials, and I hate waiting a week. I’d say I’ll just wait until it hits Netflix, but I do realize that’ll be at least a year, they wait that long, until a new season is airing, before they give you the previous one.

They make it hard.

But that’s today’s reality, today’s world. They make it hard. They don’t care about you, they want to make it hard for you to succeed. If you’re pissed and you don’t accept the short end of the stick and decide to do something about it, you’re on the road to success.

Just ask Jimmy McGill.

“Why Is Bloomberg’s Long History of Egregious Sexism Getting a Pass?-The surging Democratic presidential candidate has fielded some 40 sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuits”

The rich are different from you and me…THEY’RE ENTITLED!

Sure, Trump did it, but that’s a FALSE EQUIVALENCY! Democrats are the big tent party, embracing women, people of color, the blue collar, they’re enlightened, at least until the last twenty five years, which is why Republicans are winning, they’ve got a more singular audience, white, and they’re speaking directly to them, meanwhile the Democratic leaders keep telling us they’re offended, but they’re drinking from the same trough.

Ain’t that America, where you’re nobody until you’re somebody, and when you’re somebody you skate, paying for your offenses like a road manager with a roll of hundys until your ego becomes so self-inflated you believe you can run the government better than those with experience, because after all, YOU’RE RICH!

Forget whether Bernie Sanders loses or wins, now you can see why he has a constituency. And just like despite the “booming economy” there are those without jobs outside the unemployment statistics, never mind the underemployed, there are dyed-in-the-wool lefties who aren’t bothering to vote because they believe it makes no difference, that the leaders of the Democratic and Republican parties are more similar than different.

My favorite take on this is from the film “Milk”…you cannot win unless you give the people HOPE!

It’s not only income inequality, there’s social inequality, which often goes with said wealth:

“Bloomberg Pursues Wealthy Donors, but Not Their Checkbooks-Michael Bloomberg has sworn off taking money from other people for his presidential campaign. But in private, he is courting rich Democrats, potentially posing a challenge for his moderate rivals.”

Yup, Michael Bloomberg wants to steal the nomination with his cash.

Come on, he carpet bombs us on TV and then Instagram. Sure, Trump is uncontrollable, but does it really come down to our billionaire versus their billionaire?

Which is why taking the corporate cash is such a downer. It contributed to Hillary’s downfall and Mayor Pete…do you think he’s speaking for you? Then you must be RICH!

The record business thought it had everything under control. It was selling overpriced CDs with one good track, raking in the dough. It discontinued the single. And then…Napster.

And what did the industry do? Look into the future and make peace?

No, it SUED!

Don’t you get it, the DNC is just like the record companies. It wants to hold on to what it’s got, keep its power rather than adjust to a new reality. Meanwhile trying to scare us into its vision by saying…”You remember McGovern, right?” Even though 1972 was a different era and McGovern was never a strong candidate. And then telling us we’re unsophisticated and don’t know enough, as in we don’t understand it’s about coattails, and therefore you need a nominee who can generate this, ignoring the fact that their vaunted Obama lost so many governorships and state legislatures during his term. Which is why we’ve got the war on abortion and the eradication of voting rights. But no, this gang says to trust them, WHY?

And the labels thought they had a closed system, built on radio. And then rappers gave it away for free on Soundcloud, became the darlings of Spotify, and now the tail is wagging the dog, labels sign acts AFTER they’ve proven themselves with hits. The whole model has changed, labels don’t find talent, they BLOW UP talent, mostly via their relationships with the dying terrestrial radio and network television. Talk about preparing for the future…

Meanwhile, the labels are run by overpaid seven figure oligarchs and everybody who has not been fired, whose position has not been eliminated, is paid bupkes.

The problems are all the same. The people are getting the short end of the stick, and they’ve got no power. Supposedly they can elect officials who will speak for them, but it doesn’t happen on the Democratic side. Give credit to the Republicans, speaking for their gerrymandered districts.

It is not business as usual. This is why the Democrats lose, they don’t realize the landscape has changed, never mind changing themselves. Just because they didn’t inherit their wealth, went to college and worked hard for their riches, that does not make them better than the rest of us. Be accused of sexual harassment and lose your job, but if you’re the seven figure Neil Portnow you’re not even put on leave, if you’re Bloomberg you just write a check and move on. ISN’T THIS EXACTLY WHAT WE HATE ABOUT TRUMP?

Buy Rihanna lingerie and get stuck with a fifty dollar monthly subscription without knowing it.

That’s this week’s biggest music business story:

“Rihanna’s Lingerie Line Accused of Deceptive Marketing-A consumer group claims that the buzzy Savage x Fenty line ‘ensnares consumers into unwanted monthly charge.’ The company disputes the accusation.”

Read the article, which has almost no legs, CNN followed up two days later, but “Elle” and E! are just promoting the clothing, as if there’s no scam.

And believe me there is. This is a false equivalency headline. The company’s excuse is as lame as the dog ate my homework.

Yup, you buy $20 leggings and you get hooked into a fifty dollar subscription, and it ain’t easy to get rid of it.

Does this speak to Rihanna’s credibility?

OF COURSE, SHE HAS NONE!

That’s what the internet era has wrought, everybody’s got an agenda and everybody’s trying to get rich and word is spread that people don’t care but they do!

That’s why Bernie Sanders is so successful.

That’s this week’s big political story, how Bernie won in New Hampshire yet the media didn’t feature his victory, just said how well Buttigieg and Klobuchar did. AND THIS IS THE LEFT WING MEDIA! As for the right, Fox took Bernie’s side, and by time they were through with the left wing media it was hard not to agree with them.

But the media and the pundits and the DNC have an agenda too…THEY WANT TO KEEP THEIR JOBS!

It’s all about ratings, not truth. And since we all have different news sources, no one is holding anybody to account.

Except for the public.

There’s this fiction, referenced above, that the public does not care, BUT IT DOES!

Today’s big story is Michael Bloomberg’s meme factory on Instagram:

“Michael Bloomberg’s Campaign Suddenly Drops Memes Everywhere-A campaign of sponsored content for the candidate flourished suddenly on Instagram. A new outfit, called Meme 2020, is behind it.”

Seems brilliant in conception, but…people on social media will hype anything if you pay them, and the entire nation runs on social media (that’s why we argue about it, if you’re not on Twitter or Facebook or Instagram or WhatsApp or even Snapchat, you probably already made up your mind who you’re voting for).

Which brings us to the Bezos story. Talk about a man who is out of touch with the public.

Bezos wanted to repeat the Tesla exercise, wherein Elon Musk got various localities to bid against each other to give incentives for Tesla to locate in their burgs.

“Behind Amazon’s HQ2 Fiasco: Jeff Bezos Was Jealous of Elon Musk-Determined to meet Bezos’s demand for Tesla-size government handouts, the HQ2 team became victims of their own hubris.”

But Bezos didn’t realize Amazon was not Tesla, and that there would be blowback.

That’s also the story of today, how the rich and the media are out of touch with the hoi polloi. And when Amazon pulled out of New York, you had all the big swinging dicks saying the public was ignorant, but now the public is on the side of their New York brethren, it’s the elite that are on the losing side.

Which brings us to Trump. Believing if he won on impeachment, he was home free. But now Barr has turned against him.

So what you see is identity management is becoming very important in the internet age, when all the players, the ten percenters being the worst, say this is not the case.

This is why Bernie is winning. He refuses to play the game.

As for all the negative press, Bernie said he doesn’t bother to call the reporters on their birthdays. Yup, insiders manipulate the game. They hire pros who advise them. And it all used to be hidden, but now the internet has shed light on these practices, even though it’s hard to get the word out, as in the Rihanna example above.

You’ve got to be able to say no.

It’s turning into the classic rock era all over again.

A musician can never be as rich as a techie or a banker, impossible unless they invest themselves, like Bono and Guy Oseary. You see these people are not in entertainment to make a statement, but to get rich, to gain power, not knowing the power comes from the art.

So what we’ve got now with Bernie is a public uprising.

And a concomitant reaction.

When the truth is Bernie is a band and he has fans. Does Mike Bloomberg have any fans? None I’ve found, certainly not outside of New York, certainly not any who are not already wealthy and want to protect that wealth.

There were few Hillary Clinton fans.

Few Kerry fans.

Few Al Gore fans.

And they all lost. They looked good on paper, but they could not get the public excited about them.

This is how the old guard screws up. It wants incremental change at best. It wants one of its own. And the public? Could care less, and doesn’t want to be pushed around.

Bill Clinton was a baby boomer, young and hip.

Obama promised hope.

Joe Biden promises a return to the past, which is why he’s being decimated in the primaries. No one wants middle of the road, no one wants safe, they want to BELIEVE!

And if you triangulate and leave emotion out, focusing on math, you’re screwed.

Now I’m not saying Bernie Sanders is gonna get the nomination.

But I will say if Pete or Amy had won the press would have excoriated Bernie, said he was toast.

And how excited are people about Pete and Amy?

Pete’s power peaked a year ago. Amy’s has yet to arrive.

People in the music business know all about this. You put your efforts behind a star, and if you’re smart, it takes a long time to make it, you’ve got to percolate in the market before you break through.

Which is why so many acts in the Spotify Top 50 cannot sell a ticket, and acts like Breaking Benjamin sell out arenas, albeit not in New York and L.A:

“The Chart-Topping Rock Band You’ve Never Heard Of-Breaking Benjamin has gained a huge following between the coasts but is largely invisible to everyone but its fans”

Don’t complain the article is behind a paywall, information wants to be expensive as well as free, and frequently it’s the most expensive information that is the most important and worthy.

That’s the amazing thing about the internet age, you don’t have to know anybody to get a leg up. Almost all the information is available online, the tools of production too. So, even though nitwits are creating TikTok videos, there’s a whole slew of motivated individuals employing all this information to change the world.

And the world is changing.

Is the Barr statement one and done?

Maybe.

But how do you lose a Presidency?

Very slowly, then all at once.

Trump doesn’t realize there’s a limit, that you can only push it so far before there’s a backlash.

Susan Collins is a joke, and may now be toast, and should be, because if you’ve got no backbone in today’s society, we’ve got no use for you. Take a stand and stick to it. The four prosecutors who ankled their jobs illustrate this.

You get a choice, you can either be part of the sausage factory or exist outside of it. To live outside the law you’ve got to be honest.

And they hate Bernie Sanders because he didn’t play the game. That’s why the compromised Hillary Clinton complained about him. She sold out, she did what was expedient, he should too.

As for the primary turnout? An irrelevant metric. Most Democrats will vote for whomever wins the nomination. It’s about getting out the vote, not trying to convince people who voted for Trump last time.

So, as you can see, there’s too much news to keep up with. And the cycle is so fast, it appears things get lost in the shuffle. But they don’t, just like Bloomberg’s faux pas which are coming out now that he’s a contender, never mind that he didn’t release his tax returns when he was mayor, talk about a Republican in Democratic clothing.

So the people are pissed. On both sides. That’s what this election is about. Who is gonna catch the Hail Mary pass.

Music has got the distribution figured out, it’s just the content that needs attention.

Television has got the content, but do the distributors truly believe we’re gonna sign up for all those streaming apps?

No one is thinking about us.

But we’re in control. As long as we keep paying attention and speak our truth and vote, whether it be on the ballot or with cash.

Al Schmitt is a legendary sound engineer who has worked with everybody from Frank Sinatra to Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney to Steely Dan and scores more. Furthermore he produced Jefferson Airplane’s “Volunteers” and Jackson Browne’s “Late For The Sky.” Al even has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, right outside Capitol Records, where he prefers to work to this day. Listen to hear Al’s story.

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