“My Blood” Twenty One Pilots

This is a hit!

At first, for the initial twenty seven seconds, it seems generic, not much different from everything else, au courant, albeit employing the drum machine sound of the early eighties. And then, after that, it takes a turn, and then at forty two seconds in another, and this is when you get hooked, by the beat and the groove, and it only gets better from there, with the falsetto, and now you’re completely enraptured, you might not get it in the first three seconds, but within a one minute listen you do.

Fans and insiders know that Twenty One Pilots is a monster act, especially on the road, one can argue they broke there first. But if you’re not in the loop, you self-satisfiedly ignore them. And on one hand I get it, what they’re doing on “My Blood” is not especially innovative and not far from what else dominates, but the act puts all the elements together to end up with the aforementioned HIT!

This is something a computer will never tell us, certainly not today or in the near future. It’s a feeling, a vibe. A musician knows it when he or she locks on to it, and then they search for it the rest of their careers. You cannot write a hit every day, and you lose the touch, and sometimes it comes back and sometimes it doesn’t. You’re waiting for the inspiration, the vibe, and then you run to your instrument of choice to lay it down. And speaking of instrument of choice, the video, which has a slightly longer intro, resonates strongly because it’s just the bassist in front of the screen in the studio, the way people really make records these days. It’s a lonely pursuit. Oh, some tracks are made by committee, but ironically those are the ones that have the juice squeezed out of them, they’re so busy trying to concoct a hit that they don’t, or what they produce is soulless, but when an individual gets the word channeled from the heavens…those are the cuts we want to listen to most.

As for the lyrics of “My Blood,” they’re the usual tripe. Oh, a bit better than that, it’s all “I’ll stand by you when times are rough.” But you listen a long time before you care about, even get the lyrics. Because first and foremost it’s about music. Great music and lame lyrics works, the opposite does not.

And what’s up with all these people power lyrics? Is everybody really that oppressed? Don’t answer that. What I truly mean is what we’re yearning for is your inner feelings, those are what we resonate with most, especially if you come down off your throne and demonstrate you’re a regular person just like us.

And there are many elements that make this track work, but it’s the driving bass primarily.

So how did I discover “My Blood”?

Jeff Pollack’s newsletter. You know, the guy who was the King of AOR when that was still a thing. That’s right, now Jeff’s got one of those daily newsletters too. You know, where he lists the articles you should pay attention to. This was cool when Jason Hirschhorn first did it, but now everybody’s got one, just makes me want to unsubscribe. Too many people promoting articles with interesting headlines and terrible writing. And how much time does one person have anyway? But for now, Jeff’s newsletter is sparse, it only has six stories with less than a sentence introductions, so if you like this kind of thing, e-mail him at HQ@Pollackmedia.com to sign up.

But what kept me from unsubscribing is his weekly music recommendations. Five cuts. That I would not expect from Jeff. Turns out he’s not rooted in the past, this is all today’s stuff. This is exactly what I’ve been yearning for from the beginning of the playlist era. Give me just a few tracks, hand-curated, those I can pay attention to, ten or more and it’s incomprehensible.

And all of Jeff’s tracks were listenable and interesting, but none was a hit like “My Blood,” which is not to put down the other cuts, just to illustrate how hard it is to reach the brass ring. I wanted the Dua Lipa/Diplo/Mark Ronson cut to be a hit, I’m a huge fan of the first two and Ronson is cool, but it doesn’t quite make it. Hozier and Mavis Staples same deal, not quite there, although good in theory. But the surprise was Jagwar Twin’s “Loser,” it only has 239,311 streams on Spotify compared to Twenty One Pilots’ 9 million plus. Stream it, wait for the vocal, then you’ll get it, but the chorus is substandard, it’s cliched musically, never mind lyrically, if only the act had worked a bit harder. As for the O’My’s with Chance the Rapper, interesting once again, but no cigar.

All these cuts are in the playlist above. And isn’t it interesting that Pollack is utilizing Spotify, if the other streaming services don’t figure out mass sharing, they’ll be in trouble. Then again, do they have a free tier?

And my inbox will be inundated with hating on “My Blood.” But the joke is on the writers. A pro knows what a hit is, irrelevant of genre. And “My Blood” is one.

twenty one pilots: My Blood – YouTube

Leon Bridges

Where are all the black people?

That’s what everybody was remarking at Leon Bridges’s sold-out show at the Greek last night. If you were in attendance you’d think he’s one of the biggest acts on the planet. But he’s not. Welcome to the modern music business of niches, where you can be a star amongst your fan base, but unknown outside it.

Now the thing about Leon Bridges’s music is it’s inoffensive. And I mean this in the best possible way. So much of what is lauded these days a great percentage of the public detests. As big as hip-hop might be, many ignore it. Same deal with Beyonce, her appearance at Coachella? Lauded by the press, ignored by just about everybody. This is not the way it used to be, used to be the media anointed you and everybody paid attention. Now the media no longer has a hold on the populace like it used to.

And yes, a lot of rappers are black, and Beyonce too, BUT SO IS LEON BRIDGES!

He’s singing soul music, and there seems to be little room for soul music in the black space these days, at least new stuff, Leon’s stuff. What is happening? Is the throwback sound anathema, must you rap and employ beats to get attention?

And it is about attention, Bridges is one of those acts that most people would like if they ever heard his music.

Right now it’s the Triple-A crowd, millenial and older white people.

Of course there’s some African-American traction, but it was less than five percent of those in attendace last night. Has Bridges just not gotten his chance or has he been rejected or..?

You would have been awed if you’d been there. Most of the people knew all the words. And this was not a heritage act. Leon held the mic out to the crowd and…they sang along. He’s infiltrated the minds of those who care, and those who don’t… Actually, Leon Bridges is a mini Adele, minus the slickness, minus the big push. And maybe minus her pipes, but Leon’s are certainly serviceable.

And he almost stumbled into a career. He never thought it would happen. He was just living in Fort Worth making demos and word got to Michael McDonald and there was an ensuing deal with Columbia and this proves it is all about the music, because Leon did not have the CV, none of the vaunted socials all the labels are supposedly looking for. So let this be a beacon to wannabes and also a warning. You can break the rules, but you’ve got to be damn good.

And how can music this good go unnoticed?

His new album is more contemporary, less of a throwback to Sam Cooke, and he was on “CBS Sunday Morning,” the only program that truly moves the needle, so there is action, but it’s not sweeping the country, it’s a bubble.

And it is about AAA, but it’s also about word of mouth. Like right now, if you’ve got no idea who Leon is you’ll check his music out and say…I DIG THIS! Where has this guy been? Right under your nose. But you missed him while you were trying to escape the tsunami of hype.

You’ll be enraptured by “Bad Bad News” from the new album. It doesn’t exactly inhabit Stevie Wonder land, but it’s absent the contemporary bells and whistles Jason Derulo, who’s one of the best, employs. The sound is classic. From an era where you could listen to not only Mr. Wonder, but AC/DC and Joni Mitchell too. Now the choices are even broader, but the trees in the forest all blend together.

And you cannot keep your noggin from nodding when you listen to “Smooth Sailin'” from the debut. It’s the groove. And the horns and…

That’s right, last night’s show was not a production tuned to tape, it wasn’t about hard drives, but players. A rollicking full band. We went from the big bands of the forties to the rock ensembles of classic rock to today, where you might get an MC and a turntable, or a hard drive. Yes, Leon Bridges is out of time, but some stuff is timeless.

And “Beyond” references his grandma, the object of his desire “might just be my everything and beyond.” There’s no danger here, no one shooting anybody, no one dressed in leather and spikes, instead there’s just humanity and feeling. The songs soothe and draw you in, not the trappings.

And then Leon’s most streamed track, “River,” talking about redemption, just an acoustic guitar and a vocal, it’s almost like it’s 1962 all over again, or maybe 1972. This is basic stuff, and the basic stuff always resonates.

This is a revolution. And it’s bigger than Leon Bridges and his music. It illustrates the OPPORTUNITIES!

We’ve been taught that it’s all about the hit parade, the Top Ten, the Top Forty. It was otherwise during the heyday of free format album rock in the late sixties and very early seventies, ever since then… There are the hits and everything else. Especially after MTV. But then Napster and the internet blew up the paradigm and no one noticed. Everybody’s still trumpeting the chart when those tracks might be popular with a niche, but they’re far from the whole story.

The whole story is music is a wide swath, and we need new lenses to see the scene.

Which gets started by tracks, but truly lives live, it’s all about the experience, and people are willing to pay for it. Leon Bridges is not a heritage act with ten radio hits where you weigh whether his ticket is worth the price… No, you go to see Leon Bridges because of the newness, because of the excitement, you can’t stay away. Some sounds just draw you in, you don’t care what anybody else thinks, you’ve got to listen, you’ve got to go…

See Leon Bridges.

P.S. Michael McDonald’s old client John Mayer came out and wailed on a couple of numbers and although he killed, with subtlety in spaces, you couldn’t help but sit there and think that Mayer might be a star but first and foremost he’s a musician, he wants to play! That’s what it’s all about, the performing, in the studio, on the stage, in the rehearsal hall, in your bedroom. The flame of our musical values has been flickering, but last night Mayer, Bridges and his troupe fanned them, hard.

Tom Johnston/Doobies Playlist

1

Just when you think you got a good thing
It seems to slip away

I was not a fan of the Doobie Brothers.

“Listen To The Music” exploded on to the airwaves when I was in college, far from reality, in Middlebury, Vermont. All we had for radio was the college station, and I gave up listening to that the first week I was there. But suddenly the Doobies were featured in “Rolling Stone,” which I read cover to cover every two weeks, I did all my homework from Sunday to Tuesday, or Sunday to Wednesday, however long it took, and then I spent the rest of the week reading what I wanted to. Now you’ve got to know, Middlebury College is not for slackers. If you’re not gonna study on Saturday, don’t even think about studying on Sunday. It wasn’t long before I was considered an outlaw, a pariah. Funny how I made it and nobody else did.

You might think that’s bragging, but I’m just trying to prop up my self-image. And, in fact, one other person from my year left a mark, Eve Ensler, who wrote “The Vagina Monologues,” and also Jeanne Meserve, who you used to see on CNN. And, there was Avital Ronell, who you couldn’t miss on campus, you know the woman who’s been recently involved in the harassment case at NYU. And, of course, there was Michael Tolkin, but he transferred from Bard, to be with his girlfriend, now wife, Wendy Mogel. Actually, Tolkin and I were friends at Middlebury, but we never see each other now. You see I escaped from the cult, crawled from the wreckage to…

Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah, home of the world’s best snow. I can ski on anything, but you need some snow, and my last year at Middlebury the Bowl was closed many days and I wanted to ski more… That’s right, this was a different era, there were recruiters on campus, but none of my friends met with any of them. We wanted to graduate and explore the world, find ourselves.

And I lined up the best gig in the canyon, waiter at the Goldminer’s Daughter, the closest lodge to the lifts at Alta, it’s the only time my Middlebury pedigree paid off, but I had to give up the gig after breaking my leg in an early-season freak accident at Snow Summit in Southern California. My rental skis came off ten feet in the air and I ended up breaking my leg.

But two months later I still went to Utah.

And got myself a gig at the BirdFeeder, on the Plaza, next to the tram at Snowbird.

Little did I know Snowbird was the epicenter of freestyle skiing, they even held the World Championships there that year. And I curried favor with the freestylers by scooping them giant ice cream cones, and when I heard through the grapevine they were going to Mammoth for the month of May…

I wanted in.

And I asked.

And I drove on a snowy night at the end of April to a fraternity house on the University of Utah campus where over the din of the just-released “Physical Graffiti” I coughed up my fifty bucks for rent and said I would meet the assembled multitude at the stop sign in Mammoth, a place I’d never been, on May 1st.

Actually, I stayed up all night on April 29th listening to “Physical Graffiti” with our across the street neighbors in Sandy, and then the next morning I took off for Reno, for the Hart ski warehouse, where I was to pick up a new pair of skis. En route I got a speeding ticket. I had little cash, so I had to sleep in my car. I ate Baskin-Robbins for dinner, my sister Wendy had sent me a five dollar coupon for my birthday.

And after picking up the skis the next morning, I drove to Mammoth.

Now almost no Americans other than Californians have driven 395, from Reno to Mammoth. It’s on the wrong side of the Sierras. But when you do… It’s uninhabited and the mountains are spectacular and you feel so good about yourself and then I got to Mammoth and stunningly everybody was at the stop sign and I found out…

They were going back home. That’s right, we were short a couple of hundred bucks.

But then a guy who moved to Utah from Stowe made up the difference and I called home and found out I’d gotten a $35 tax rebate and we all decided to stay. Bought end of seasons passes for fifty bucks and were promptly…

The hottest guys on the mountain.

That’s right, the best skiers in the country were from the aforementioned Little Cottonwood Canyon, still might be, and we skied what others would not, like Phillipe’s, where if if you don’t make the turn…you crash into the rocks. Now you’ve got to picture this, it’s ultra-steep, and narrow, less than twenty feet, and you’re heading for the rocks and halfway down you have to shift to your left. And if you don’t…

Most people don’t even go there.

But our tracks were there for everybody to see. We’d be sitting on the deck and people would point them out and…

You’re only young once.

And we only went to Mammoth once.

And it was in Mammoth that I fell in love with the Doobie Brothers.

2

You see Jimmy, the occupant of that U of U frat room, brought his stereo, an 8-track, to Mammoth, and his tapes only featured two groups, Led Zeppelin and the Doobie Brothers. I’d burned out on Zeppelin long before, after all, I’d been there at the beginning. And when Jimmy played “Led Zeppelin II,” I winced, I’d played that out in high school. But when he played “Physical Graffiti”…

First it was “Kashmir.” I found myself singing the riff on the chairlift.

And then it was “Ten Years Gone.” And “In The Light.” And “The Rover.” And “Boogie With Stu.” I was falling in love with Zeppelin all over again.

And when Jimmy was not playing Led Zeppelin…

He was playing the Doobie Brothers.

Now if I heard “Long Train Runnin'” one more time…

This was the era of late night television music programs. And seemingly every one featured the Doobie Brothers. “Long Train Runnin'” and “China Grove,” you couldn’t escape them.

But then, the following year, when I was at working at Star Sporting Goods on Highland before breaking my leg, “Black Water” started to percolate. There’d been a lot of hype on “What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits,” but the initial track, “Another Park, Another Sunday,” from which the quote above was taken, stiffed. The album was not living up to expectations. But suddenly…

And the thing about “Black Water” was you could sing along. My newfound buddies and I would do so in the car.

But still.

But now, I was hearing the Doobie Brothers every damn day.

And they revealed themselves to me. They were not a pop band trolling for hits, they were three-dimensional, it was the non-hits that grabbed me.

3

Now I knew “Jesus Is Just Alright” from the Byrds.

But I did not know “Rockin’ Down The Highway.” Which sounds exactly like the title, from back when we used to have driving music. You’ve only got to hear “Rockin’ Down The Highway” a few times before it’s ingrained in your soul, back when we all wanted to be set free.

But “Disciple” was just a little less obvious, but just a tad more engrossing. This was not made for the hit parade, but for the fan, who bought the album.

But my two favorite cuts on the second album are much slower and quiet. It’s “White Sun” that makes you fall in love with Tom Johnston’s voice. Whew!

And I slip away down by the water

Our music used to be personal, you heard it and you were in a bubble, where you felt protected and your best self.

But my absolute favorite is the title track of the LP, “Toulouse Street.”

It’s dark, but not pitch black.

Now “Toulouse Street” was written by Pat Simmons. The Doobies were not one note, they had multiple sounds, as a result of having multiple writers, and then…

The big album with “Long Train Runnin'” and “China Grove” was 1973’s “The Captain And Me,” and once again it’s now the title track that’s my favorite, couldn’t be farther from a single, not even an album cut for the radio, but if you know it… It’s hard to explain to those who were not there. How the deep cuts mattered so much.

But until recently, my favorite track on the LP was the opener, “Natural Thing.” Just listen to it. It’s the opening lick, the sound, it’s in your face, but subtle, and it’s addictive.

And “The Captain And Me” has “Dark Eyed Cajun Woman,” a counterpart to the Eagles’ “Witchy Woman.”

And “South City Midnight Lady”…

The album I thought was junk, in your face stuff, was not at all, I became enamored of “The Captain And Me.”

But not as much as “What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits,” the apotheosis, the Doobie’s masterpiece.

Sittin’ in my room, starin’ out my window
And I wonder where you’ve gone

We’ve all been there, with the radio on, reflecting.

“Another Park, Another Sunday” is a jewel, maybe too good for that era’s hit radio. And when it ends, you know another good thing has slipped away.

And this is the LP with “Black Water.” But it’s also got “Eyes Of Silver,” a companion piece to “Rockin’ Down The Highway,” once again, a couple of listens and it’s like you’ve known it your whole life.

And “Spirit.” It was acoustic, and so meaningful, and the picking was so exquisite.

Every track on “What Were Once Vices” delivers.

But the one I quote all the time is “Tell Me What You Want (And I’ll Give You What You Need).” It sounds nothing like the similarly titled Stones song, but it too delivers.

And then Tom started suffering from stomach problems and “Stampede” was flawed, not up to the standard of what came before, but still wholly listenable.

Tom argued for a cover of “Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While),” and it became a hit.

But the most memorable cut on “Stampede” was the Patrick Simmons number “I Cheat The Hangman.”

And my favorite is the second song on the first side, also written by Simmons, “Neal’s Fandango.”

Goin’ back, I’m too tired to roam, Loma Prieta my mountain home
On the hills above Santa Cruz, to the place where I spent my youth.

It was not only tech that was fomenting up north, even at this late date most people have never experienced the magic of Santa Cruz and the mountains towering over the town.

(Note: Making the playlist I realize I excluded Tom’s “Texas Lullaby,” which sounds like you’re riding a horse on the Texas prairie, it’s an understated great.)

4

And I immediately purchased all those Doobie albums upon returning home after that month in Mammoth, I had to relive the magic.

And the following spring, when I had to drive cross-country, I went to Music Odyssey on State Street in Salt Lake and purchased six cassettes for the drive, including the Doobies’ “Takin’ It To The Street.” Simmons was still there, but Johnston was just barely. It was a different sound.

And on the follow-up, Tom was totally gone, now Michael McDonald was truly the frontman.

And then this new incarnation of the band recorded “Minute By Minute” and achieved one of the greatest comebacks in rock history, they were as big as they ever were, albeit with a different sound.

And then the band imploded, and then regrouped with Tom at the turn of the decade, from the eighties into the nineties, and recorded two albums on Capitol and got some MTV action and then…

They went on the endless road.

You can see them in your town.

And now that Irving Azoff is the manager, they’re getting the recognition they deserve, they’re no longer being neglected, expect the Doobies to get into the Rock Hall soon…

5

So, what have we learned?

Sometimes you’ve got to be exposed to music to get it. When you can’t escape it, when you marinate in it.

I still ski. It was tough there for a while, after going every day, it’s hard to do it occasionally. Now I do it more than occasionally and wish I could have those years in the wilderness back.

Everyone there agrees that month in Mammoth was the peak of their life. Just when you think you’ve got a good thing, it seems to slip away, and never comes back.

But I’ve still got the Doobies.

I still listen to the music.

Maybe more than any other band.

Really.

———

Tom on how they named the Doobie Brothers:

Tom Johnston on the podcast this week: https://t.co/Z7qNZd332C Tom on how they named the Doobie Brothers pic.twitter.com/E8BmvWIyB5

— Bob Lefsetz (@Lefsetz) September 11, 2018

Listen to Tom Johnston on…

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That’s right, I’ve got my own talk show on SiriusXM’s Volume, channel #106, starting tomorrow at 7 PM Eastern and 4 PM Pacific, and if you’re in between, I know you can figure out the time, I’m not one of the people labeling you “flyover country,” you’ve got the same 500 channels and 200 Mbps down and 4G as we have on the coasts, so LISTEN!

So what is this?

I’m gonna ramble for a bit, setting up the topic, stimulating your brain cells to the point you’re gonna call in and tell me whether I’m right or wrong, a jerk or…

And to tell you the truth, I want your opinions, they help form MINE!

Sure, I’m reading all day, not out of obligation, but because I love it. But feedback informs me. Kinda like the last election. My inbox was filled with Trumpers, blowing the whistle every time I wrote something leftward-leaning. I knew Trump was a force, how come the big newspapers did not? BECAUSE THEY DON’T TALK TO ANYONE! They’re faceless names inside their own bubble. Whereas music is all about connection, we’re in it together. Not that we don’t have family squabbles.

That’s right, it’s me, with my opinion. And I don’t expect you to always agree, but that does not mean I don’t think I’m right. But unlike a Congressperson, I can change my mind. How come it’s illegal to change your mind in America? All the techies keep saying failure is the key to success, but nobody in power in the straight world wants to show any vulnerability.

Speaking of vulnerability, I’d be lying if I didn’t say the negative feedback got to me. I read it, it keeps me regular. Except for the blowhards who e-mail me every day. Haven’t you got anything better to do with your life? Two secrets, the longer the e-mail, the less prone I am to read it, and the more constant an e-mailer you are, same deal.

Not that there aren’t writers who I yearn to hear from. It’s just that in today’s cacophonous world where everybody’s got a voice and nobody’s listening there’s a level of frustration that no one acknowledges. The hype keeps coming down the pike and we don’t care. But we’ve got nowhere to complain.

But you can complain on my SiriusXM show.

Then again, if you’re a one-note caller who just wants to hear yourself talk… Expect not to get on.

But if you’ve got an opinion, and you can articulate it…

P.S. The first show was gonna be on ticketing, but I’ve changed my mind, it’s now gonna be on streaming, distribution. As you all know, my mantra is “Distribution Is King,” and if you don’t agree with that, you probably support Les Moonves. That’s right, he’s the same guy today as he was last week, but he has no REACH! No power to put shows on the air and hamper Janet Jackson’s career. Vindictive people are the enemy. But the point is, the power lies with those who decide what gets heard, what gets on the TV channel, on the streaming service. But now that almost everything is on Spotify, et al, how do you get noticed, do you need the label? Never forget, Spotify’s worth more than Sony Music or Warner Music, maybe only Universal is worth more. Furthermore, you respect your major distributor, which is why Wal-Mart pays less for product than anybody else, because they order more and ship and rack more. Do you want to be at the cash register at the independent hardware store or at every Wal-Mart? Your product remains the same, it’s only the distribution that changes. This is what we’re gonna talk about. I’m interested in your take.

Bob

Oh, one more thing, the phone # is 844-6-VOLUME, in other words 8440686-5863. As for Twitter, which we’ll be watching, it’s @siriusxmvolume and #lefsetzlive.

AND

Rerun times are:

Tuesdays @ 11PM ET / 8PM PT
Thursdays @ 1PM ET / 10AM PT
Saturday @ 7PM ET / 4PM PT

And you can always pull the show up on demand on the SiriusXM app.