The sixties weren’t only the Beatles and Vietnam.

I was reminded of this on Saturday night.

Who didn’t own “Whipped Cream & Other Delights”? Who didn’t like Herb Alpert? The aforementioned Beatles triumphed alongside the Southern California trumpeter, but a dividing line between the two was not there. Herb was not part of what came before and was excoriated thereafter, like Perry Como, even youngsters like Fabian and Bobby Rydell. No, we LIKED Herb Alpert and his music. It and other instrumentals sat alongside the British Invasion on Top 40 radio and these were cuts that both our parents and we could enjoy.

And I know these songs by heart, but they’ve been disconnected from the era over the ensuing decades. Saturday night, they were placed in time, and oh, what a time it was.

One of optimism.

For all the protests, the youthquake, the dissatisfaction, the sixties were a time of belief in the future. Things were good and we only wanted them to get even better. Sure, there was poverty, then again, LBJ had a campaign against it, I remember wearing my “War on Poverty” button to school.

And nostalgia for what came before was not a thing. No one wanted to return to the black and white fifties, never mind the war years before, no…we experienced a sunny explosion.

There were the colors. Bright and shiny, electric orange, pink and yellow. The sixties were an era of graphic experimentation. Everything was up for grabs, we thought we were taking a great leap forward, there were smiles on our faces.

So the funny thing about Saturday night’s show is it was definitely 2025, but none of the dissension, the disagreements, the divide of today’s’ era was extant. We were all in it together, no one cared what political party you were from, we were there first and foremost for the music, we did not expect the cultural journey to yesteryear.

You see there was a lot of video. “What’s My Line?” I’m sure a kid would be flummoxed by that title. And watching the footage of “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In”…you HAD to watch on Monday night to discuss the skits in school on Tuesday. It was a cultural requirement.

Not only the skits, but the syncs… Like the one for Clark’s Teaberry gum… God, that was a thing back then, but I didn’t remember until Saturday night when the dots were connected. This was my life, I was fully alive back then, and seemingly everybody in the audience was too, this was our life.

But not the life of the youngsters who were not in attendance. But the funny thing is I believe youngsters would have LOVED the show. Because you didn’t have to know the songs to enjoy it. That’s part of the magic of instrumental music. Also, kids have never lived in an era where instrumentals are hits. Sure, there’s EDM… But everybody knew “A Taste of Honey,” never mind “Love Is Blue” and “Java” and so many more.

So the show began with “The Lonely Bull,” my personal favorite.

And this was kind of weird, he was starting with one of his biggest hits… Most acts save them for the end of the show. But in truth, Herb has so many greats.

And his horn dominated, but there was full instrumentation from the Tijuana Brass. A cohesive sound with nothing on hard drive, this was definitely the sixties…when we thought everybody on stage could play, otherwise why be there?

And the thing about “The Lonely Bull” is it’s wistful. The music I love most creates a mood. You marinate in it. Your mind is set free. You feel fully alive, despite journeying solely in your mind.

And there was another quick song and ultimately Herb started to speak.

This was not a performance. It was more like being in Herb’s living room with him telling you the backstory of the songs and his career in between numbers. It was fascinating and edifying. And all these years later we credit Herb’s partner Jerry with steering A&M, but Herb showed how important to the partnership he was on Saturday night. He not only created the initial hits, he brought Sérgio Mendes to the label, and worked with the Carpenters and…

There was footage of Herb with all the heroes of the era, even Satchmo. You see back then it was really a club, and you were either in it or not. There were not smartphone cameras. What happened even in the great wide open was unknown by most. It was a floating party in Hollywood, and only Hollywood. And we felt it elsewhere, it was cool, if only we could be involved.

And Herb’s playing one song after another. And I’m thinking to myself…he’s ninety, can he sing “This Guy’s in Love With You”?

Not only did he sing it, he told the story of it! How he was doing a TV special and the producer thought he should sing a song… Herb was game, but his range was narrow, he needed someone who could write within it. So he called Burt Bacharach (like I said, everybody knew everybody), who was instantly in, who concocted the number with his partner Hal David. And they were in the studio, and Herb was doing a rough take, sort of talk/singing, getting ready to cut the real vocal, but when they played it back Burt said THIS IS IT, THIS IS THE ONE! Herb didn’t agree, but it was released and soon went to number one. Because it was featured in the special! That was the power of TV back in the day.

I forgot Herb covered “Love Potion No. 9.” That was the highlight of the night for me. It was originally done by the Clovers, the Searchers had the British Invasion hit. But Herb’s version, sans lyrics… It swung in a way none of the hit versions did, was almost akin to Shirley Bassey’s “Goldfinger,” and I’m swinging along with it, mentally singing the lyrics about Madame Roux…you know, that gypsy with the gold-capped tooth!

Then there was the latter day hit, “Rise,” which was released on 1979, just like Michael Jackson’s “Off the Wall,” and comfortably sits in the same groove…sounds just as hip. A modernistic leap forward from the sixties.

And I’m waiting for the big hit…

It wasn’t first, but it was Herb’s true breakthrough, his take on “A Taste of Honey”… talk about bringing you back and making you smile. This take encapsulates the buoyancy of the sixties, with just a hint of gravitas…and that was the era.

And there was all that video shot by the label as promotional footage. That I’d never seen, and most people probably have not either. Herb performing with Charlie Chaplins on the A&M lot which was originally Charlie Chaplin’s studio.

There was none of the dourness of today. None of the cynicism. But without being fake upbeat. This was Herb’s career, he earned his success.

And unlike many of his contemporaries, money is not his issue, after the sale of A&M thirty five years ago, so…this is not a mercenary venture. Herb’s not hawking a single, merch, he’s just performing… Blowing his horn and talking like a much younger man. Herb has all his marbles, his functionality, and the weird thing is so many of his contemporaries are no longer with us.

But Herb survived and so did we.

Now once the Beatles hit, going to a show… It was anything but a passive event. It was hard to get a ticket and just to be in the presence of a star… You forget that it was such a big deal that girls were screaming so loud that it was hard to hear the music.

And that extreme passion for stardom is still a feature of most modern concerts, by the ones who’ve achieved superstar status or are riding a current hit. You pinch yourself, you can’t believe you’re there.

This was something different. The trappings, the aura was gone. It was just Herb and the music. It was human, anything but artificial.

And people care. Brian Martin, the promoter, told me this was the fortieth straight sellout.

If you have any interest at all, GO! The show will put you in a mood, jet you back to what once was without completely disconnecting you from today. I’m not sure where else you can get this experience.

And unlike so many concerts… It was Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass and Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass only. No opening act. He played for two hours. You got enough and then he was gone.

He was thrilled, and so were we.

And that’s what we’re looking for.

This won the Booker Prize. And I was surprised. Because this is the first time I’ve ever read one of the winning books before it was anointed. Furthermore, I usually find the winning books close to unreadable. They titillate the committee, academics, but they are not for the proletariat.

But “Flesh”?

At first I couldn’t even figure out what country they were in.

And the original plot line… I would have handled it differently from the main character.

But what ensues…

Is a life.

We’re used to reading about winners and losers. Not regular people. But István both wins and loses in “Flesh,” and you don’t expect it.

The interaction with the two women after he gets out of the military, what happens in the bathroom… You never know what is inside another. Someone who looks stiff can be loose. Someone who appears easygoing can be judgmental. It’s part of growing up. You encounter different types, have different experiences, and find out where you lie on the spectrum, who you should be wary of.

And then the way things play out in the U.K…

But that’s life, you can fall into things, get lucky, and just as easily fall out of them.

So… I think the average person will be somewhat bewildered at the beginning of “Flesh.” But hang in there. Because once István gets out of the military, you’ll have a hard time putting the book down. You’ll be enthralled by this alternative universe. It’s not you, it’s not people you hang out with, but you have met people like this…who are victims of circumstance, who fall into situations both good and bad.

And the reviews all laud the lack of character description, the tropes of traditional graduate school writing, but despite that I can’t say that the words always flow, that it’s smooth. But it’s all about what happens to István, and the relationships. You’re taken into another world. You’re completely removed from your everyday world, and isn’t that what the best fiction does? And it will have you questioning what life in Eastern Europe is really like, the opportunities and lack thereof.

And I’d contemplated writing about “Flesh” when I read it over a month ago, but I thought it was a bit too outside, not for everybody, but then it won the Booker Prize and…

If you’re contemplating diving in, I recommend it.

If you’re wary…you’re on your own.

P.S. The book is so unclear and so staccato at first you think it’s a translation, but it was written in English by David Szalay

Women love Lily King. Love, love, LOVE her and her work!

But I thought her previous books… Weren’t exactly chick lit, but ultimately punted, in that they went for lowbrow predictable, satisfying the audience, as opposed to going deeper and becoming more complicated and ultimately risking alienation of the reader.

To tell you the truth, I’d about given up on her, was not going to read another one of her books. But then I read the reviews of “Heart the Lover,” reserved it on Libby and decided to give it a chance.

And for the first third it was WONDERFUL, SPOT-ON!

Now the funny thing is unlike with her previous novels, I thought I was not highbrow enough for “Heart the Lover.” You’ve got literature/writing students talking about authors and books I’ve never heard of, never mind read. I felt inadequate, I had to tell myself I knew a lot of records.

But despite that…

Yes, the first half of “Heart the Lover” is a campus novel, and many feel too old to return to those days, but King nails connection and love so well, SO WELL, that was I was riveted and smiling. Pretty soon you know what is going to happen, but you’re still eager to see it play out, how it plays out.

Ultimately “Heart the Lover” is a treatise not only on college love, but love and life in general. The choices we make… We end up in places we didn’t foresee, maybe stable and happy, but that connection from back when…we just can’t break it.

And what is most important, said connection or livability, coexistence?

The last half of the book… There’s a lot of good stuff there, but it devolves into typical Lily King territory. You want more depth… The feelings are there at times, but the plot is somewhat predictable and…

I felt the connection of love in the first half of this book. It resonated with me, it was exactly what I was looking for.

But unlike with a record album, where a few good tracks are enough, a novel must be solid, or close to it, the entire way through.

I’ve learned from feedback that many men are a lot softer than they’re portrayed. For every guy who will only read business books, needs their reading to advance them, there are many others who want a book to affect them, touch their feelings. So there’s a cadre of men who will like “Heart the Lover.” Girls will LOVE “Heart the Lover,” based on what I’ve read and traditional reaction to King’s books. It’s not a huge commitment, and I wasn’t going to write about it, but since I wanted to talk about “Flesh,” which affects you on a visceral level, which is hard to shake, I decided to put down my thoughts.

“Heart the Lover” is not a slam dunk. But it does get to you.

And…how many sacrifice their college ambitions? They’re going to be artists, set the world on fire, and they become professionals, or work for daddy’s company, sacrificing their hopes and dreams.

I’ll let you contemplate that.

Are you watching this?

We didn’t start until finishing “Death By Lightning” first, which I do not recommend, despite all the positive reviews. The dialogue is positively stilted. Just because the action took place over a hundred years ago, that does not mean people spoke in a stiff, non-colloquial way. It’s only four episodes, and we continued because we wanted to know the history, but at this point, I wish I’d just read the Wikipedia page.

“Death By Lightning” is American filmmaking at its worst. Concentrating on look as opposed to dialogue and story. Yes, “Death By Lightning” looks fantastic, takes you back to the pre-automobile days, but…

Shea Whigham as Roscoe Conklin is fun to watch, but he reminds me more of comedian Kevin Pollak than any politico I’ve ever encountered/witnessed.

Nick Offerman is such an oaf, the role of Chester Arthur is played so broadly, that there’s no way this guy could be nominated for Vice President, NO WAY!

Matthew Macfadyen as assassin Charlie Guiteau… At times delved into Forrest Gump territory. A cartoon. Sometimes he was believable, other times not.

And Michael Shannon as Garfield himself is so retiring, so downbeat, that this guy never could have been elected president, NEVER!

So when “Death By Lightning” was over I was wary of watching another American production, so I made a deal with Felice, first we’d watch an episode of “Delhi Crime,” and then one of “The Beast In Me.” I needed something foreign, to clean the palate, to keep me interested.

And it was fun to see the old characters in season 3 of “Delhi Crime,” although the human-trafficking plot and the constant changing of locations gave me the idea they’d run out of ideas, that maybe the series had continued too long, but it was good, and we will finish it, but then we pulled up “The Beast In Me.”

Hype. You can feel it for the new Vince Gilligan show on Apple, “Pluribus.” With news features about Rhea Seehorn and Gilligan himself. But in the modern era a series dripped out week by week is so antique. You think you’re building buzz, but in truth you’re crippling it. Because if you can binge, you get really excited about a show, there’s a lot to talk about and you do!

And people will be talking about “The Beast in Me.”

Then again, it’s hard to take the temperature of the public in today’s America. It’s hard to know what is going on.

I point you to this article in today’s “New York Times”: 

“Conservative Media Picks an Epstein Story Line and Sticks to It – Right-wing outlets have focused on a single redacted name in the 23,000 pages of correspondence related to Jeffrey Epstein that were released on Wednesday.”

Free link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/14/business/media/epstein-trump-emails-conservative-media.html?unlocked_article_code=1.1U8.O3JY.nBEXq85oEne_&smid=url-share

I might be the only American who doesn’t really care about Epstein. After all, he’s dead. But a moralistic nation has to punish anybody attached to him and…

The release of the e-mails was all over the news on Wednesday. It dominated.

Unless you were on Fox. I scanned the website and had to scroll down, down, down for a reference, and the next day I couldn’t find one at all, although maybe if I scrolled ad infinitum…

There are two different narratives here. And that’s laughable, since it was the Republicans who were so interested in Epstein and the e-mails/information.

So what’s a poor boy to do?

They used to play in a rock and roll band.

Now they scroll TikTok and watch streaming television.

And “The Beast in Me” is now number one on Netflix, America’s, the world’s, number one streaming service, and that means more people are exposed than…are even watching cable TV news.

So you should watch “The Beast In Me,” I want to know your take.

Like “Death By Lightning” (and why that title?), “The Beast In Me” is impeccably shot. It captures the east coast feel, made me yearn for the area. The greenery, the change of seasons, the rain…

So we don’t know exactly what is up with Claire Danes’s character. And she’s portraying anxiety/nervousness so well. These tics… Is Danes the new Meryl Streep or is she always like this?

I never saw “Homeland,” but I did watch the Israeli show it was based upon, “Prisoners of War,” which the “New York Times” said was the best foreign series of the decade, and I’m not sure I agree, but it was wrenching. All I really know about Claire Danes is she was in “My So-Called Life,” a cult show before it was stripped by MTV. She was an atypical teenager, with a crush and…then Danes went to Yale and now she’s 46 with three kids. How did that happen?

But Danes demonstrates an inner strength in “The Beast In Me,” she’s got her ideals straight in her mind, even if she’s wavering on the periphery.

And then you’ve got Matthew Rhys…

Who somehow I didn’t even recognize. He was softer in “The Americans,” too soft for “Perry Mason,” but he’s so intense here…I guess I identified him more with the type than the underlying identity.

I know people like this. This is the modern paradigm. Men who have so much money they think things should always go their way…they believe they’re right and entitled. And if you stand in their way…they’ve got tons of cash and lawyers to make you go away.

So to what degree do you cope with a bad neighbor?

I squirmed watching Rhys’s dogs come into Danes’s yard. People love their dogs, they can do no wrong, complain and you’re a pariah.

Are you entitled to peace and quiet?

I kept thinking if I was Danes in this show, I’d move…because I didn’t see Rhys ever bending.

But then Danes interacts with Rhys… She doesn’t want to, she’s squeamish, and he tries to steamroll her and she is flummoxed, but she stays true to herself, and he doesn’t like it.

But you can never say no to a man like this.

He ultimately traps/convinces Danes to go to lunch and doesn’t obey traditional rules of conversation. It’s not exactly that he’s browbeating her, but he’s digging deeper and deeper and… Is this a connection?

I’ve only seen one episode. Don’t tell me if you’ve watched more, and you probably have, this show is hard to turn off, but…

Where exactly is this going? Is this a traditional American production, a ramping up of hostilities, or something more nuanced, with unexpected plot twists.

Now what happens at the end of the first episode disappointed me, it was foreshadowed and predictable.

But Danes living alone, in a large dark house…

This show is creepy.

And despite not wanting Rhys’s money, she needs money.

And…

Check this show out.

Tune in Saturday November 15th to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West.

Phone #: 844-686-5863

If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app. Search: Lefsetz