This is kind of hysterical. The pussy-grabber in chief rapes and pillages our nation and its relationships, yet a comedian is unable to pursue his career. Have we lost perspective?

And isn’t it interesting that not a single male has weighed in on the Louis C.K. comeback, because they’re all afraid of what the women might say. Are the women winning here? I’m not sure they are, because I will tell you the #MeToo movement has had little to no impact on male conversation, it’s only forced the behavior underground, which begs the question, are you winning the battle and losing the war?

Louis C.K. needs to be able to come back. When? I’m not sure. But he’s an independent contractor, not given a fat deal by Fox or NBC or CBS… It’s right to set rules for those corporations publicly traded, but an individual?

And let’s not forget, Louis C.K. is the only one who apologized and went away immediately, even Harvey Weinstein is fighting the fact he did it, never mind those who followed in his wake. Does Louis C.K. get no credit for being a mensch after being outed?

That’s another question.

America hates sliding scales. America hates gray. It wants all its public figures to be squeaky clean, even though those paying attention to them are not.

I have no idea what went through Louis C.K.’s head when he masturbated in front of women. I can’t conceive of it. And I would never force myself upon a woman, if anything I’m waiting for a clear signal before I take action, this whole #MeToo thing has me reevaluating my behavior, am I the only man in America who’s a wimp?

Furthermore, we all have our quirks, our peculiarities, our fetishes. What do they say? Want someone to come to the table, just threaten them with outing their Google search history, no one wants that public.

However, those wanting to keep things from being public, paying for this “privilege,” are now learning the truth outs, not only Trump but Asia Argento. For all you Kennedy conspiracists out there, if we can’t even keep secrets re sex, what are the odds no one in the government has ever spoken… NIL! People love to talk, and the truth always outs, especially in this internet era.

So what was Louis C.K. supposed to do to earn his return?

Maybe it is too soon.

But we have no criminal code for his behavior, he was not sued, we have no established penalties, what are they?

Kinda like Jackson Browne, he was accused of hurting Daryl Hannah and for years his career was hobbled, a good portion of his core audience wanted nothing to do with him, but now that time is past. But Jackson worked during the crisis. Furthermore, he denies the behavior took place. Did it? Damned if I know.

Same deal with Dr. Luke, in the news this week when it was revealed he never raped Katy Perry. How long do we banish Luke from the landscape? I’m not saying Luke is warm and fuzzy, but he’s now a pariah in the music business, and for how long? Once again, Luke has denied the behavior, and I’ve heard a lot but I don’t know the truth here either. All I know is his career has been ruined. And forget Dr. Luke, what about everybody else?

Yes, rape someone and get convicted and you’re going up the river possibly for the rest of your life.

And most rapes go unpunished. And for far too long men didn’t listen to women. But now that we’ve accused these perps, how do we decide how long they have to sit out?

The Stanford rapist got too brief a sentence, but the judge in that case lost his job, the public voted him out. You can vote against Louis C.K. by not seeing him, and maybe that’ll be the case, maybe no one will want to go see him. But should we let him find out?

What’s happening here is marriage replicated. That’s right, in most marriages, the women wear the pants. The men are boisterous out with their friends, if they’re permitted to leave the house, but the women set the rules.

Do only women get to set the rules for when #MeToo perps can re-enter the public space?

It’s too early for O’Reilly. And Lauer and Charlie Rose. Unless they want to build it on their own, then we get to decide whether we want to pay attention or not. So far, O’Reilly is losing this war. The other two have yet to play, but the truth is all three have not owned up to their behavior, they’re still fighting the facts, does Louis C.K. get a shorter sentence for owning his behavior and staying out of the public eye?

No one is gonna forget his behavior, he’s gonna be tarred with it for the rest of his life. But unlike weasels like Trump, at least he told the truth, isn’t that worth something?

We’re not gonna solve this problem without men involved. Isn’t that what Dave Chappelle said? Women have to bring men in. And right now men are afraid. If they talk at all, they play to the other sex.

And I’m not saying everything the women are saying isn’t true, that they haven’t gotten the short end of the stick, that they haven’t been sexually abused and held down. Now what? Sure, having women on boards is a good step, but when you prevent a man from pursuing his livelihood, you end up with a very angry man, because males’ self-image is based on their work.

Then again, they bar attorneys.

But at least they can find other work.

Women are at risk here of losing the narrative. Being accused of being strident just like they were in the seventies. Sure, progress was made, but one always has to evaluate strategy. Hell, I’ll step in a hole here, lesbians have weighed in on Louis C.K.’s return, and they’re entitled to their voice, but I’m telling you now the average male is wincing, wondering whether we should take our heterosexual clues from gay people.

Oh, don’t unsubscribe because I told the truth. Or maybe you should, because you can’t handle it.

This is how we got into the Trump jam to begin with. The supposedly brighter, more educated and richer, ignored a whole segment of the public to their detriment, furthermore, they scorned them. They had no sympathy for the dope-doers in Ohio and Kentucky. They worked hard, you should too. That’s right, the rich don’t like affirmative action because that lowers the odds their kids will get into the Ivies. The truth hurts.

So are women now so “knowledgeable” that they’re going to alienate fifty percent of the population?

Men are entitled to a voice here.

And their voices may be wrong. Maybe they can be convinced their opinions are wrong. Only in politics are you unable to change your mind. Don’t we give kudos to those who do? Who become enlightened?

But put people down and allow them no traction and they’re going to react.

And that’s what’s gonna happen with this Louis C.K. thing.

Hell, a Comedy Cellar customer complained the owner didn’t warn him in advance that Louis C.K. was gonna appear. But the owner didn’t know and is this any different from “trigger warnings” in college?

I’m further left on the political spectrum than the Democratic party, but I do know progress is based on communication, knowledge and compromise. Hell, that’s why we all hate the government, there is no compromise.

We’re not gonna come up with a solution that’s gonna please everybody.

But Louis C.K. should be able to work again. He can’t be banished forever. The death penalty for whipping out your dick? If he can’t work, that’s what it’s like, just ask any male when they lose their job, they run out of cash and their wives divorce them.

There’s a lot of power in the pussy.

Oh, did that offend you? Then why were you so proud to wear the pussy hat to Washington?

We are in this together. Let’s get it together. Let’s know there is no perfect solution. And that unless we get males involved in the solution, there will be no true progress, it will just force their take underground, where it will flourish.

Boy can he talk.

That’s one thing Canadians and Indians have in common, they’ve got the gift of gab. I think it’s all those cold winter nights in the Great White North, as for Indians…I’m still thinking about it.

We all know Randy, from the days of the Guess Who and BTO. But what I didn’t know was how loquacious he was, that he could really tell a story, that he was open and honest. I guess I grew up in the era when rock stars were removed and cool and had little to say, BUT NOT RANDY!

I could listen to him all day.

And you could too.

The pizza delivery man plays piano on “Takin’ Care Of Business”:

Randy Bachman on this week’s podcast: https://t.co/ffEVgxpTNM Hear him talk about the pizza delivery man who plays piano on “Takin’ Care Of Business”: pic.twitter.com/ZF56IR6bsw

— Bob Lefsetz (@Lefsetz) August 30, 2018

Randy stutters for you:

Randy Bachman stutters for you. Listen to the podcast on TuneIn: https://t.co/IPgL8VrTRh or Apple: https://t.co/SoYcEZkCKL pic.twitter.com/d0KyvCsOS1

— Bob Lefsetz (@Lefsetz) August 30, 2018

Listen to the Randy Bachman podcast on…

TuneIn

Apple

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Overcast

Castbox

You should care. Whether you live in London or Dubai, whether you’re old enough to vote or a felon who cannot.

Because the polls were wrong and Gillum won.

But it was more than that. He focused on YouTube instead of television. And he didn’t triangulate, the old Clinton playbook is dead, you speak from the heart, not the head, you don’t try to appeal to everyone, but those who care. You can build it if you’re honest, if you don’t compromise.

Kinda like music.

But we haven’t had that spirit here since the last century.

That’s why pop music died. Check the chart. Instead of speaking their truth from the heart, acts incorporated beats and rap breaks and tried to give a bit of everything to everybody. Meanwhile, hip-hop has become me-too, and not in a feminist way. What kind of bizarre world do we live in where music is antiquated and politics is cutting edge?

One in which labels are the establishment and everybody’s chasing a buck.

Go into a label and try to sell them something non-hip-hop, something that’s not on the radio, IT CAN’T BE DONE! Labels are the new gatekeepers, they’re the Democratic party, taking the temperature of the country and delivering what they think people want, but is not close to what they need.

The reason there are twenty writers, the reason it takes months to build a track, is everybody’s afraid, everybody wants to buy insurance, they want to make sure that what they deliver will be accepted, by the same damn audience. What kind of ridiculous world do we live in where the dominant musical art form is hated by half the people?

Now hip-hop used to be about rebellion and truth. And sometimes it still is. Its power was unrecognized before the internet and Spotify, just like country’s was unrecognized before SoundScan. And maybe hip-hop is the new rock and roll, then again, rock and roll is brain dead, a third party appealing to niches with no traction. Meanwhile, the biggest act in the world is Adele and she sounds like nothing else on the chart. A great singer singing memorable songs with melody, what a concept! Then again, she shot herself in the foot on her last album by refusing to be on streaming services, that’s like refusing to be on the internet. Trump defeated Clinton because he tweeted, he still tweets. Who else is a famous politician who tweets prodigiously? NO ONE! Because they’re all afraid.

But we’re seeing a new wave of politicos who are not afraid. Who are doing it their way.

Kinda like Chance the Rapper. There haven’t been more of him because there’s only one of him, no one else resonates with the public so. And he keeps on giving money away. While most rappers are talking about their riches, he’s giving to charity. Didn’t anybody in the music business realize that millennials have a social conscience, that this stuff resonates with them, they want you to do good?

Now Gillum might lose in November. And then you’ll hear the powers-that-be say he was too far left. Tell that to the Federalist Society, which took decades to reach critical mass and now rules. Hell, you didn’t even know about it until last year. Hell, you still might not know about it. But the joke is on you, no one’s dumb anymore, everyone’s informed, maybe misinformed online, but you still think it’s about TV.

That’s what gave Gillum’s opponent DeSantis traction, he was all over Fox. Check the stats, old people watch that channel. And what happens to old people? THEY DIE!

Kinda like the old people going to classic rock shows. What comes next?

But no one at the labels is concerned with what comes next, they’re all like rappers, focused on short term numbers for their bonus pay. Because they have no ownership interest, and they’re focused on themselves instead of the operation.

Music used to be the most truthful, immediate medium. Hit songs reflected life. Were up-to-date, were comments on what was going on.

Now you find that on television, which takes much longer to produce.

Now everybody can’t win, everybody can’t get nominated. Gillum did not come from nowhere, he was already mayor of Tallahassee. So when you sit at home and wonder why you’re not successful, blame yourself. You have to find a way to get on the playing field, you have to find a way to get noticed, you have to have traction before the big players get involved. And Gillum benefited from money from Soros and Steyer, the latter banging the drum of impeachment almost since Trump was in office.

And what does the mainstream media say?

YOU CAN’T TALK ABOUT IMPEACHMENT!

That’s the canard the right wing is spouting, and the newspeople, who missed Trump, are so out of touch with fact, that they believe it.

That’s the world we live in. Where we trust the data until we don’t.

The data said Clinton would beat Trump. So she relaxed and Democrats didn’t vote.

Clinton was so busy appealing to everybody, she appealed to nobody.

Kinda like today’s music business.

Lynyrd Skynyrd – Spotify

I remember exactly where I was the first time I heard “Sweet Home Alabama.”

I’d graduated from college only months before. Talk about a weird experience. What am I gonna do next?

In my case I was gonna be a ski bum in Little Cottonwood Canyon, i.e. Alta & Snowbird. My final year of college was the worst snow year in history, like Depeche Mode, I just couldn’t get enough, but that was years before that track came out.

My father had bought me a new car for graduation. I didn’t want one, I had a ’63 Chevy convertible, although I was a bit anxious about it, it didn’t have a low gear, so going down the canyon… And my father wanted me to get a Capri, which I did not want, he’d gotten screwed by the Lincoln/Mercury dealer, they’d sold him a lemon and he could squeeze out a good deal on the Capri, but I said no. And then one day my mother told me my father really wanted to buy me a car, which is how I ended up with my 2002, which was a demonstrator, even so, 6k was a lot of money back in ’74. And I insisted upon two things inside, a/c, since my father kept testifying about its necessity, and a Blaupunkt AM/FM cassette radio. Morris first balked at the a/c, which cost $600, which brought the price to said 6k, but the radio was included, and I made twenty four Maxell cassettes for my trip to Utah, but whenever I hit a metropolis I tuned in the local FM station, to find something new.

And this morning in St. Louis they were doing construction, and it was raining, and I was reaching to the dial, since that head unit had no push buttons, not that I’d know the stations in St. Louis, and as I passed a gas station on the left, that’s when I heard “Sweet Home Alabama.”

This was just when “Free Bird” was becoming legendary, but before Lynyrd Skynyrd had been inducted into the pantheon, after all, they were working for MCA, the worst label in the business, even worse than RCA.

And the reason I remember hearing “Sweet Home Alabama” that day was because the track was so great, no other band had three lead guitarists, oh, the Outlaws copied them, but this was a new sound, the Allmans might have had two drummers, but three guitarists, what was the point, Cream only had one, but they danced together, entwined each other, came up with a complex sound that was so simple.

One of those guitars, one of the writers of the song, was Ed King.

He’d started out in the Strawberry Alarm Clock, who I’d seen at Fairfield University, but I’m not sure he was in the touring group, but he probably was, this was right after “Incense and Peppermints,” another one listen track that sounded like nothing else, it was the organ and that spacy guitar, as well as vocals sung like the guy was gasping for air, like someone was pulling him somewhere else but he had to get the words out before he moved on. But this was the sixties, when the soundalikes were ignored and we were bombarded by new sounds constantly. Imagine what it was like to hear “Purple Haze” for the first time, nothing prepared you for it, we don’t have breakthroughs like that these days.

But by time Lynyrd Skynyrd came on the scene, times had changed. FM radios were prevalent in cars, and the Allman Brothers were the biggest band in the land, albeit after the passing of Duane, it was “Brothers and Sisters,” if I hear “Ramblin’ Man” one more time I’m gonna shoot somebody, but I cannot get enough of “Come And Go Blues,” with Gregg’s husky, soulful voice, I can’t believe he’s gone, if you survive the maelstrom, you’re supposed to last forever, if you made it out of the seventies, you should still be here, but Gregg is not.

And Lynyrd Skynyrd were perceived as me-too at first, and not in the sexual harassment way, even though that was rampant in rock and roll those days. They fought their way to the top, failed sessions in Muscle Shoals, but then Al Kooper signed them to his Sounds of the South label and they fought it out on the road. But, just after the first LP came out, while Al was still living and cutting in Hot ‘Lanta, he got a call from the band, they had a new song, could they come up and cut it.

That’s right, “Sweet Home Alabama” was cut in the fall of ’73, even though it was not released until a year later, it sat in the can. And I asked Al if he knew, what a monster it was gonna be, and Al looked me in the eye and said…IT WAS SWEET HOME ALABAMA!

Only the amateurs can’t tell a hit. You strive forever, trying to get it right, but when you hit it far over the fence, you know, even though it’s so hard to do. Casual hits may make it via accident, but the legends are inevitable, like “Sweet Home Alabama.”

They made a movie with that title, Kid Rock linked it with “Werewolves Of London” to dominate the charts in 2008, but the truth is the original is the apotheosis, a legend in a bottle, the lightning we’re always waiting to strike us.

Big wheels keep on turning
Carry me home to see my kin

I always thought this was a “Proud Mary” reference, even if unconscious. Those big wheels, on the water, on the interstate, lull you into a state of suspended animation, alternately frustration and bliss.

He heard Neil Young sing about her.

In Birmingham they love the governor.

Watergate does not bother Ronnie Van Zant.

He stood up to the paragon of rock, who entranced both the boys and the girls before Mr. Young alienated them with “Time Fades Away.”

We can analyze all day long whether Van Zant supported the governor or not. As for Watergate, this was written long before resignation, the point is can you let politics distract you from the business you’ve got to do, unfortunately today you do.

But it was the hook, the lyrics, the piano playing, nothing on the band’s debut had prepared us for this.

And Ed King quit before the accident.

And latecomers Steve and Cassie Gaines perished in that plane, as did Ronnie, and for years there was no Lynyrd Skynyrd, there was a Rossington Collins Band, and then the act reunited with bits and pieces until bit by bit, the originals who were left fell by the wayside, to the point the only one now left is Gary Rossington himself.

And Ed King was hiding in plain sight for years, no one ever talked about him, you’ve got to die to get recognition these days. But if you grew up in that era, if you were an avid reader of liner notes, you knew who Ed King was.

And now he’s gone.

But not only him. But an era where everybody wanted to play. Both on and offstage. Music ran the country, everybody was passionate, we judged you on your record collection, and if you made it everybody knew your track and when you went to the show it was clear who were the stars, the people on stage, not you in the audience taking selfies with your smartphone.

Maybe you remember.

Maybe you don’t.

But one thing’s for sure, the power and magic of “Sweet Home Alabama” maintains. From an era where a band from Jacksonville refused to be pigeonholed as dumb rednecks.

They pick me up when I’m feeling blue.

I know you feel the same way too.