Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7F5Hc4ta5ivrgpVGAs5m7y?si=57e28b9b0ed34a9c

This is where the Bad Company and Mott the Hoople versions of “Ready for Love” differ.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised at all the kudos Mick Ralphs has been receiving. I didn’t expect this, especially since Bad Company gets no love from the press and the cognoscenti. Which has always baffled me. Because not only was Bad Company successful and ubiquitous and still-played on the radio today, THEY WERE GREAT!

There have been obits in every major newspaper. And more than a squib, there have been details.

And rock musicians have been testifying. You might have seen Joe Elliott’s version of “Seagull”: 

The irony being that this is the one number on the debut that Mick Ralphs did not play on, the acoustic guitar was played by Paul Rodgers, although Mick did co-write it. And the lyrics fit:

“Seagull you fly across the horizon

Into the misty morning sun”

That’s the metaphor, that dead people are now birds, in any event are up in the sky, in heaven.

However there is a twist:

“And you fly all around ’til somebody, yeah

Shoots you down”

That’s being a rock star. You fly above everybody else, they adore you, you look down upon them, but ultimately you are cut down.

As for “Seagull”… All dedicated Bad Company fans know this track that closes the second side of the album, I remember Tommy Nast mentioning it to me, actually singing it… Then again, maybe if you were a fan of Patti Smith or Whitney Houston you never even heard it. (As for me, I bought those Patti Smith albums, never a Whitney Houston one, but I could appreciate the greatness of Bad Company too. And although I occasionally sang “Kimberly” to myself back in the day, it’s Bad Company songs that I sing to myself and play to this day.)

Anyway, since Ralphs died I’ve been on a jag, playing his music, which is not usually the case. I know, I know, someone dies and consumption goes up, but if I was a fan I was usually such a big fan that to hear their music weirds me out, I don’t need to be reminded, I never forgot. But it’s been different with Mick, maybe because his work encapsulated the core of rock and roll, you could draw a straight line from Chuck Berry to him, Bad Company had no frills, it was rock and roll sans extras, it was direct, and that was its power.

Anyway, I know the albums so well, I’ve been searching for additional material. And there are a number of live albums, but you’ve got to investigate, not all of them feature Ralphs. Like “Live at Red Rocks.” Cut in 2018, Mick was already bedridden from his stroke at this point.

But there is one live set entitled “Live 1977 & 1979” that features the original band, including Mick. And last night I got hooked on that one.

The funny thing is live the band sounds a bit different, Paul’s vocals are a bit less controlled. Then again, live is where rock and roll has always lived. The energy, the feel.

First I pulled up “Simple Man.” I was stunned there was a live version of this, my favorite Bad Company song. But this take is less eerie, yet more powerful. Instead of being ethereal, it’s down to earth. Performed on a stage right in front of you, from a band that was employing no tricks, it’s just them and when they hit the chorus the emotion and the power rise.

“I’m just a simple man, trying to be me

Oh, it ain’t easy”

These are the words that resonated most last night. I just want to be me. And that’s a hard choice, a rough journey in today’s world. You can’t be you if you’re busy trying to fit in and be a member of the group, if you’re holding back for fear of offending someone.

Then I played “Good Lovin’ Good Bad,” you’d be stunned how Mick’s guitar fills up the entire space. But what I love most about this number is it requires Rodgers to sing in a higher register, he’s straining, like Levi Stubbs in those great Four Tops hits.

And I’m working through the numbers and ultimately have to play “Movin’ On” to see if it’s got the same energy as the original, recorded version. It’s got Mick’s sound and Paul is strutting and if you know the track you can envision how great it must have been to hear this live, that was what I always loved best, hearing my personal hits live, the ones I knew from playing the album from start to finish over and over again, that were embedded in my brain, I was not a casual concert attendee just there to hear the hits, not knowing much more.

But what I’ve been singing in my head most, what I’ve been playing most, is “After Lights.”

We’ve already established that the versions of “Ready for Love” by Mott the Hoople and Bad Company are different. I mean compare Paul’s strong vocal to Mick’s weak, thin one. The irony is when Mick sings “want you to stay” it’s even more believable, it evidences a need, a near desperation. And this is amped up in the second verse:

“Don’t let go, you know I’m ready for you

Don’t you be slow, you know what I’m going to do

Give it to me, you know what I’m talking of

Give it to me, I’m ready for love”

This may sound macho on paper, but if you listen to the record… He approached her, but now he’s got up his gumption, he’s emoting, he’s proving why he needs her attention.

And then the track breaks down, Mick calms down, he’s reciting the details without the emphatic emotion:

“Now I’m on my feet again

Better things are bound to happen

All my dues surely must be paid

Many miles and many tears

Times were hard but now they’re changing

You should know that I’m not afraid”

You’ve got to understand, before they make it, before they break through, musicians struggle, sometimes even if they have a record deal. They’re working all the time, they’ve got little money, but then like an alcoholic or drug addict now clean, Mick is approaching the object of his affection and letting her know he was lost, but he’s ready to be found, he’s ready for love.

Then at 3:07 the track modulates up. Adding more emotion, near-pleading, but then…it breaks down completely. There’s a keyboard solo, dark in that classic U.K. way, and then he implores her once more.

“Oh, I’m ready for love

Oh baby, I’m ready for love”

And that’s where the Bad Company version ends. But not the Mott the Hoople original. At 4:26 the number completely changes, now we’ve got AFTER LIGHTS! The cut quiets down and gets mellow, it’s like the singer and the band have been launched into space and are floating around millions of miles away. The vocals moan and then whoo-ooh and then there are guitar licks like shooting stars. And they continue. And then the track enters a groove like a space capsule orbiting the earth, and who knows what happened between him and the woman. Is he happy in his own mind, in orbit, or are they together?

This is the part I’ve been singing to myself these past few days. Especially Mick Ralphs’s moans and whoos. This has been the part that’s killed me, the last two minutes, “After Lights.” I’ve slid the slider to 4:26 in Spotify over and over and over again.

This is not hit music. Not in the way of the Spotify Top 50. But this is what the entire modern music business was built upon. It was singles with the Beatles and British Invasion, and then Hendrix and Cream came along and blew that paradigm apart. For years it was all about exploration, there were no time limits, records were adventures, it was the low spark of high heeled boys.

And then MTV made it about the hit single again. But then hip-hop, a singles driven medium, took over and now, a quarter of the way into the twenty first century it’s like it was before the Beatles all over again. There is a music business, it is purveying hits, but they’re evanescent candy that don’t touch your soul in the same way as “After Lights.” This was the experience, alone in your bedroom after dark, going on an aural adventure, having your head explode to the music. You knew other people felt the same way, but you didn’t meet most of them until you were together at the gig. And the acts knew this was their job, to set the listener’s mind free, take them away, and they could only do this by throwing off restrictions and testing the limits themselves. Who cared if the record company couldn’t hear a single, the audience was tuned in, your fans were keeping you alive.

But it’s very rare you get what is perceived to be a journeyman musician as a driving force of a superstar band. This is not the Edge getting kudos, no one talked about Mick Ralphs during his heyday, you just felt the music, the audience just knew. But without him there would be a hole not only in these bands, but in rock and roll history. You see if you did it right the roots were evident, but the end result was just a little bit different, which is what made you special. And you had to have the chops to make it. There was no autotune, no hard drives on stage, you were playing without a net and the audience could sense this tension.

Mick Ralphs was too ill to attend the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, yet he did know the band was finally in, but I wish he’d still been alive to experience this well of emotion, these testimonials from his peers and his fans, for this final victory lap.

So far it’s not as good. And we’re only in four episodes so far. But there were two moments in last night’s viewing that struck me that I want to write about.

First, Richie. You know, the hotheaded bro called “cousin” even though he’s not related by blood.

Richie is played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach, who I first encountered in the last seasons of “Girls.” Ebon played a wimpy, needy folksinger involved with Allison Williams. Everything about this guy bugged me. On one hand he was kind of macho, but he cried and was manipulative and…

Maybe you never watched “Girls.” And it’s funny how it’s now in the rearview mirror. It was of a time and place and it has not sustained, it has not been picked up by the next generation, or maybe HBO/Max has not publicized viewing numbers, megalomaniac David Zaslav too busy being paid. Not that I watched the whole series, but I got hooked on Lena Dunham/Hannah Horvath going to the Iowa Writers’ Workshop where she didn’t fit in, she was an original and they were not.

And to be honest, Moss-Bachrach’s hyphenated last name rubbed me wrong just as much as the character he played. Why are you making it so difficult for us? Just pick one or the other, “Moss” or “Bachrach,” the hyphenation is pretentious.

And Ebon played another annoying character in “The Bear.” But now, with the fine dining restaurant open, as the maître d’, he’s started to come into his own, he feels better about himself, he respects himself more, and he feels he’s truly an integral part of the restaurant.

But said restaurant is teetering financially.

So one night, after midnight, on the way home Ebon/Richie stops off in a bar for a few drinks and… One thing about Ebon is he’s good-looking. Which doesn’t quite square with his character. The way he reaches his limit so quickly and explodes. He’s normal and calm and then operating at a hundred miles an hour. Anyway, in a usual show the good-looking character goes to a bar and he meets a woman. Happens all the time. But Ebon/Richie drinks alone. And then he goes home alone. And he’s lying in his single bed in his downscale apartment and…

Richie was once married. He’s got a kid. But his ex is getting remarried, and wants him to come to the wedding to boot.

Richie’s got nothing, other than his gig at the restaurant, and he lies on his bed and he tells this to God, prays that the restaurant stays open, that he keeps his job, BECAUSE HE’S GOT NOTHING ELSE!

Nitpickers might claim he’s got his daughter. But his ex does not agree with his parenting techniques and if he loses his income he’ll lose access and…

I’ve been there. Sans daughter, but… Whatever you had has now been destroyed or lost. You’re living in less than ideal circumstances. You’re surviving on sheer will. And you don’t know how you’ll cope if the little income you’ve got disappears.

We see all these shows about meeting people, getting married, but after breakup, after divorce…this is oftentimes how it is. You were somewhere, it all worked, and now it doesn’t. And you’re on the verge of being desperate. The depiction is brilliant.

Also, and to not spoil the series I won’t mention names, when one character approaches another and… This is a love relationship. And there’s been discord. And eventually they talk it out. Whew, this is right too.

Now on some level I think they should have wrapped up the series already. I mean where are they going to go? On a high level show like this the restaurant could fail, but how would you keep the cast together?

But, they are not painting by numbers. They are still throwing the long ball. And in these two instances, they scored.

Lead singer of the Zombies.

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/colin-blunstone/id1316200737?i=1000714644795

 

 

 

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/f0166bc6-8d4f-493a-9da5-bab4596a38f5/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-colin-blunstone

Not enough people knew “Elio” was out and not enough people who did knew if it was good and not enough people had friends who were going to see it…

Therefore, box office was disappointing.

But it could bounce back and it could sustain, depending upon word of mouth. But this is not how entertainment is made and marketed today.

There is a fiction that the wall to wall hype of the nineties still works. Now it occasionally does, last time with “Barbie,” then again, the movie was based upon a well known doll that had been in the market for half a century. But if you want to break something brand new?

And it’s not only movies, it’s music too. All the focus is on that which is made for big bucks immediately. Whereas it’s the little engines that could who are hoovering up all the dough, with low marketing costs and avid fans.

Used to be films were platformed. They opened in New York and L.A. and they might take months to hit the hinterlands. Then the paradigm shifted to opening in thousands of theatres and hoovering up all that dough on the first weekend. And then the film had another run in physical media, i.e. DVDs, then pay per view and cable/streaming…

That game was blown apart. But that’s the game the studios are still playing. I know I’m just one of many piling on the studio heads, but they are so out of touch, crippled with short term thinking to boot. Remember when everybody laughed when Netflix switched to streaming? Who’s crying now?

But Netflix has its own built-in marketing device. Its homepage. They serve up what they think you want and you don’t have to scroll down very far to see the Top Ten. So you get a feel for the marketplace instantly. Albeit a walled-garden, but Netflix is the big kahuna here and you can survive on Netflix alone, which is why Disney+ and Hulu have their streaming bundle, you need to entice people to sign up, whereas word of mouth about their shows gets people to sign up for Netflix and keeps them paying every month.

So conventional wisdom is it’s impossible to break an original movie and therefore sequelmania is the only option. Let’s be clear, the sequels do business because the audience already knows what they are, they know what to expect, and the originals are successes, otherwise no sequels are made. Whereas if you start with something new…

Studios have to accept the fact that something new is going to take time to percolate in the market and therefore they must be marketed accordingly. An original script should be seen as a four to six month project. With a slow rollout. There should be no imminent pay per view or streaming. The film goes to secondary distribution before most people are even aware of it. The movie business thinks America is enthralled and is following their releases…NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH! Most people are out of the loop and don’t care. How do you get them to care? By creating a product so good that it creates word of mouth and sustains.

But studios have giant contracts with the secondary markets, they get big bucks for these, but they’re killing original productions.

And original label productions have fallen completely by the wayside in music. The old game of signing an unknown to a label and marketing the hell out of them is completely done. First the act must establish a fan base independently and then the major label will sign it and try to blow it up further.

And why is this so? The death of terrestrial radio, which had a lock on exhibition. And while we’re at it, let’s talk about TV being in the dumper. There’s still a channel called MTV, but nobody watches it and it’s got little to do with music. And late night talk shows’ ratings have cratered and an appearance there means bupkes, so…

You can’t rig the game anymore. Anybody can play.

So what are the labels doing? Buying independent distribution networks. Rob Stringer just boasted about all the data Sony gets from the indie companies it acquired, not only the Orchard, but Kobalt. And now Universal wants to buy Downtown… Thank god the indies in the U.K. are fighting this. How are you supposed to compete with someone who has all your data?

Entertainment survives on new product. Almost no one has a hit on the chart a few years after their breakthrough. No, we need a steady slew of new acts. But since they’re so hard to break, the labels just promote that which sounds like everything else and most of the audience tunes out. Ditto on movies. SOME people like Marvel movies, many people don’t care. Marvel is a NICHE! Just like Taylor Swift. But the press still believes in the old paradigm too, they employ the traditional charts… Recently publications have started releasing lists of their best tracks of 2025. It’s laughable, all of them are from the Spotify Top 50. The acts selling tickets outside the pop/hip-hop genres are nowhere to be seen, even though they sell a boatload of tickets. We call this marginalization. Unless you’re a fan of the Spotify Top 50 try listening to some of this dreck, you’ll be horrified. As for the kind of music you want to hear, where the hell would you find it? The entire system is based on selling you a limited amount of tripe, and therefore you’re’ dependent upon friends to turn you on to the good stuff, and your friends might not be music aficionados, so you just spend time on TikTok, which is more exciting than the Spotify Top 50 anyway!

If you’re an act, prepare for the long haul. There are exceptions, like Zach Bryan, but Zach’s music was totally different from the Spotify Top 50, he was original and credible and people hungered for him and his music, most acts are not that desirable.

And most movies are not that good.

You’ve got to flip the script. Instead of working from the audience backward, you’ve got to start with the art. Create something incredible on its own terms and then wait for the public to find it. This is Netflix to a T. Meanwhile, if dropping episodes week by week was such a great strategy, Apple TV+ would have a zillion more subscribers. There’s no heat. If every time I go to your platform I can’t find something new, I’m not going to pay to subscribe to your service.

This is all evident to consumers. Consciously or unconsciously. It’s only the purveyors and the attendant media who are brain dead.

Instead of declaring “Elio” a failure, expectations should have been low for the first weekend, with subsequent marketing to help enhance word of mouth. Hell, so much of the audience for this pic is under ten, good luck reaching them. As for their harried parents? They’re too busy paying the bills and doing the laundry and schlepping the kids to pay attention to your marketing. This is not Thursday night Must See TV with tens of millions exposed to Hollywood’s ads. And the dirty little secret is the audience HATES ads, they’re a turn-off, they know when they’re being marketed to, so it gets ever harder to market to them, your sales pitch must be the artwork itself, it must have intrinsic quality and appeal.

I’d say the landscape is going to change, but it’s ALREADY changed.

Just like the “New York Times” releasing their Top 100 movies of the century. I never go to a movie theatre, almost no one I know does, who does this appeal to? A niche lost in the past. You want to interest people? Do the Top 100 TV shows of the twenty first century. And include all the foreign ones, just like you do with films. And most of these series can be instantly accessed on a platform that many are already paying for anyway. Barry Diller says the film business is dead, but the “New York Times” which wrote all about his autobiography did not get the message!

It’s kind of like politics. The Democrats drove the car off the cliff and then were stunned when they lost. They thought the public would be happy having no choice in candidate, they thought the public was happy when in truth people were flipping out for economic reasons. It wasn’t only Joe Biden who was out of the loop.

Now you can get the straight poop if you talk to the young ‘uns. Even better, go on TikTok. But oldsters propping up the old model ABHOR TikTok! But what works on TikTok? Honesty, credibility, something different… If you do the same thing over and over on TikTok you lose views, you’ve got to constantly come up with new stuff, which used to be the studio’s job. But now these crybabies say it’s too difficult. Give me a break.

The business is disrupted by those who are digitally native. The Boomers and Gen-X’ers have to die off. They run  on nostalgia. A boomer will tell me they like episodes dripped week by week, but I’ve never ever heard this from someone under forty. They want to BINGE! In today’s world if the product is not available, people will go elsewhere!

How do you connect the consumer to the product. That’s the most difficult thing to do. The only ones who’ve figured it out are the ultimate distributors, like Amazon and Spotify. They offer EVERYTHING! And when you add up everything, it works. But if you’re just one product, one record on their service…

Digital boycotts? Ever find someone under forty who wants to start one? No, they know how good these services are!

“Elio” didn’t stiff because of the movie, it didn’t stiff because the public doesn’t want original productions, it stiffed because the studio and the surrounding press are employing an ancient template in a modern world.

Quick, who runs the studios?

Lord knows.

But you know who Ted Sarandos is. And Daniel Ek. And it’s only those who grew up in the old pre-internet system who rail against them. They want it the old way.

But the old way is never coming back.