Boy, I screwed that one up.

I’m not taking back anything I wrote, it’s just that I really wanted to talk about politics and I was afraid I’d overload you and…

Today Stories’ song “What Comes After” started playing in my head…

I’ll get to the song, but the set-up is…

I’m numb, I don’t know what is going on. Are the tariffs on or off, what’s going to happen with the measles, the law firms, when are people going to realize that the cuts in the government are truly affecting them…

I’d say it’s whiplash, but really it feels like we’ve been inside a 737 Max in turbulence and we’re wondering if all those changes Boeing made are going to hold.

In this case Boeing is the Constitution. And so far it’s being shot full of holes. If you think the courts will stop Trump…you probably believe that guy should stay in the Salvadoran jail.

And then there are the protests…

Bret Stephens nailed it in the “New York Times”…

“I have no problem with opposing Trump — as we both do (he’s speaking with Gail Collins). My misgivings are about an opposition that takes the form of futile gestures and virtue signaling.”

The protests are in the rearview mirror. Then again, the big story has become how come the mainstream press didn’t cover them with greater depth and prominence.

But we learned this week what we already knew… The only thing that can change Trump’s mind is money. Once the bond market started to crater, once the rest of the world stopped believing in the economic power of the U.S…

Trump put on the brakes.

This is the only thing that stops him. Not protests in the street, not the legal system, just money. If you want change, you’ve got to fight with money, destabilize Trump’s personal assets or those of his cronies or those of the country itself.

Meanwhile, the Democrats are silent. Because they don’t understand modern communications methods/getting your message out.

Their strategy is to let Trump burn himself out, but what they don’t realize is Trump has completely changed the landscape and is continuing to do so while they sit on the sidelines.

There is no truth anymore. Hell, rescinding the tariffs was the PLAN! Trump’s acolytes don’t even believe this as they utter it.

So… The mainstream media has been taken off the table. Completely neutered. Even worse, denigrated.

Now true students of the game know that information is king. If someone is pontificating and they don’t read the “Times,” WaPo and “Journal,” ignore them. Because these are the only three outlets reporting the news, investigating and detailing. And if you can’t start with the facts, you can’t make headway.

And it’s not only those on the right who don’t know the facts, but those on the left too.

As for information…it’s the key to success in any endeavor, not only politics. He or she who knows the most can see the complete landscape and triumph.

So what the Democratic party needs to do is spread its information 24/7 into every nook and cranny. From the mainstream to social media. They think that Trump flooding the zone means he’ll drown, nothing could be further from the truth. Mixing metaphors, the Democrats are being trampled by elephants, which just happen to be the Republican party symbol.

You’ve got to stand up and fight or you lose. Period.

And you win with information.

But those in power think information only resides in newspapers and TV news, when in truth so many reach so many more… Not only Joe Rogan, but Mr. Beast. The Democrats should start flooding the zone. Stop complaining and fight back with information. You win a war by inches. But you cannot win unless you start.

Which brings me back to “What Comes After.”

All I need to tell you is that Michael Brown was a member of Stories.

Who is Michael Brown?

He’s the genius behind the Left Banke, and “Walk Away Renée” and “Pretty Ballerina.”

Those records have a sound and a feel…that you cannot get anywhere else, which is why they’re forever. That’s the essence of the sixties, experimentation. And darkness to go along with the light. Today everybody is a winner, yesterday everybody knew that you can’t always win, and it was all right to reveal your emotions.

Anyway, I’m listening to the lyrics and wondering if they fit.

And they didn’t seem to.

“What Comes After” is a perfect coda to Stories’ second album, “What About Us.” There’s optimism earlier, especially “Love Is in Motion,” the other truly great song on the album.

Oh, after their version of “Brother Louie” became a hit single the record company tacked it on the end of the album, but…

“What comes after

The laughter

I open my eyes

Great disaster came after

I started to cry”

The feeling of a breakup, it’s the opposite of sex. It feels just as bad as sex does good. It’s nearly intolerable, no matter what the age, you never become immune.

“What comes after

What matters

Has gone far away”

When you lose the center, when the plot no longer makes sense…how do you cope?

But listening to the song I realized the final verse applies, is a good metaphor for today:

“What comes after

And after

I open my eyes

Strange disaster

Came laster

I started to cry

And now I find I’m blind”

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/3iNBAjeUW3RbffUh5k3mXn?si=dd32809384bb4773

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEp0q7vzVjg

Is a zero-sum game, if they’re not paying attention to you, they’re paying attention to someone else.

Know who your audience is and how to reach them. It’s old school, but best to have e-mail addresses. Even better, phone numbers so you can text. But you can’t use these channels too often, people view their inboxes as inviolate, don’t abuse the privilege.

Personal is everything, bland is anathema. Any message can be made personal, it just requires a bit of creativity. “I was in the shower when I realized I hadn’t told you that I added gigs to my tour…” That’s much better than a press release.

Press releases are ignored unless there’s real news involved. Tour dates, a new album… Shotgun no longer works, precision is everything, you’re a sniper aiming for your target.

Professional PR. Is worth it if you’re a star, you need someone to be your gatekeeper, you need someone with relationships for big media opportunities. But for the rest of musicians? It’s money down the drain. You cannot outsource your career these days, you are in charge of and must do EVERYTHING! Think of it like playing video games, or using online platforms. There’s zero tech help. You’ve got to figure it out for yourself. And those who can win and those who can’t are forever behind the 8-ball… If you need the Geek Squad to figure out your tech problem you’ve already lost. You must be familiar with the tools, every social media platform, all the ins and outs. Don’t tell me you can’t, because you’re a musician… These skills are now part of Life 101, like learning to cook or drive. You need these skills, they’re bedrock. And they’re best learned by participating, and getting frustrated. Frustration is the key to growth. If you never hit a wall you’re not driving fast enough or far enough from home. And the bottom line is you can find the answer to almost every problem on Google.

So you are in charge. DO NOT outsource your social media. That’s a fool’s errand. Because you can’t pay anyone enough money to care as much as you do, nor can anyone truly be you. View participation/posting as a continuum, some live online, some only post once a day…

Occasionally is ineffective. There must be a steady stream of information. It will be ignored by most, but your hard core fans, who are the bedrock of your career, who will insist their friends listen to your music and will drag them to your show, cannot get enough info from you. That’s right, there’s no such thing as too much. So you should never hesitate to post. You never know what will resonate with someone. Don’t second-guess yourself.

Sure, it’s good to ramp up a campaign if you’ve got something new to promote, but it really doesn’t mean much unless you’re in touch with your audience all the time. The hype for Lady Gaga’s new album was everywhere. Like everybody cared. Then you didn’t hear a word. And some other album was number one. The lasting image is that the album is a disappointment. You don’t want to risk this. Better to be in touch with your fans than everywhere.

You can’t get in major media or on TV without an intermediary/advocate/agent/PR person. But know what you’re getting… If you’re on SNL or CBS “Sunday Morning” it moves the needle. As for getting one of those pieces in the “New York Times”…this only works if you want to influence tastemakers. Last Sunday there was an article on Cameron Winter in the Style section of the “Times”: “On the Verge of Rock Stardom – Is Cameron Winter ready for the spotlight? He better be.”- https://rb.gy/rrsud7 You know, the lead singer of Geese. No, you probably don’t know, but I saw the article and thought…either this is something huge or something completely irrelevant, but one thing is for sure, it didn’t end up in the “Times” by accident. A PR person got it in. Now if you go to the Google News, there’s no equivalent press, nothing close. So, the PR person shot his wad on the “Times.” Are the “Times” readers going to cause a conflagration, blow up Cameron Winter’s career? OF COURSE NOT! But people like me, who can shift the needle, are aware of the fact that someone is putting a big push on an artist and they’re now on our radar. So, if you’re not worthy of attention, if you’re not new, this placement will do NOTHING FOR YOU! Generally speaking, forget mainstream press unless you’re a star or a critics’ darling, like Jason Isbell. Also, if you get one of these pieces, don’t talk much about the new album, but your IDENTITY! Even babies are O.D.’ed on new project hype. And the funny thing is mainstream media plays along, it hasn’t gotten the message. I don’t need to see a story about everybody who stars in “White Lotus,” it’s a turn-off, it’s lazy reporting, it’s frivolous fluff. If there’s not a deep angle or story that resonates, it’s worthless.

Which brings me to backlash. You want to avoid it. AMONGST YOUR FANS! Don’t care what non-fans have to say about you, NOT AT ALL! But you can burn your fan relationship. Don’t keep asking. What makes me crazy is getting hype about an event six months in advance and then ad infinitum until the date plays. I’m either going or not, I don’t need to be reminded every single day! I just unsubscribed from “Ski”‘s e-mails. Now they send them every day with clickbait headlines… I’ll just go to the website, nothing sent is ever truly important or newsworthy, it’s just that “Outside Online” is struggling and they want to dun me into subscribing… Don’t they realize they’ve got a bad business model?

People want to go deep. Surface is for punters. Talk about your interest in electric trains. Talk about your breakup. Your goal is to put out content that people can truly relate to, you want to establish a bond, to the point where people think about you when they don’t hear from you and wonder what you’re up to.

BE SUBTLE ABOUT THE ASK! Don’t beat me over the head to buy your vinyl so your album can go number one, what…do you think I’m brain-dead? This might work with the prepubescent, but what makes you think I care about you that much? Maybe if you’ve established a close relationship online, but… I am not your employee. It is not my job to make you successful and rich. Make me aware of stuff and let me decide whether to buy/partake. Or personally incentivize me. Give me something for helping you. This is a business transaction when you ask me to do something, never forget it, there must be a quid pro quo.

Stay on message and be true to yourself. Do not change yourself for instant gratification. The public is incredibly savvy, when you’re not true to character, they’re out. Don’t play to the big boys, play to your audience. If you can’t say no it doesn’t mean anything when you say yes.

If you can’t come up with novel ways to enchant your audience, make people laugh or cry, then you’re not a good artist to begin with. Your songs have lyrics…you can’t write anything else? It’s all about creativity, doing something different.

Get down into the pit with your audience, you never want to appear better than they are. That paradigm expired with the internet. If you’re hobnobbing with the celebrities, out on their yacht…you must have a sense of humor about it if you do it at all. As for LOOK AT ME posts… Those are for dolts who don’t get enough attention in their regular lives, never do that.

Managing your fan connection and image is a 24/7 job, and only you can do it. That’s one thing the influencers know… Then again, too many of them are one-dimensional and need attention while they try to get you to buy dreck. You’re selling yourself and your music. Sure, it can have rough edges, it can have mistakes, but it must be YOURS! The Spotify Top 50 can employ ten writers and multiple remixers but that’s a different market, flavor of the moment, you’re in it for the long haul. Credibility is everything. Give people a reason to believe in you. They’re dying to believe in you!

None of this means anything without great music, but if you’re selling something other than music… This is what the Democrats don’t understand. They sit on the sidelines hoping Trump will blow himself up, when in truth they should be out flooding the airwaves themselves, they should be everywhere, because no outlet reaches everybody… You never want to be self-satisfied, you never want to blame people for not getting and understanding your message. If that’s the case, IT’S YOUR FAULT! 

Graham Russell is the songwriting half of Air Supply. You’ll enjoy his story.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/graham-russell/id1316200737?i=1000702991923

 

 

 

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/2abff3a1-01ad-4f12-b509-7f39017255d2/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-graham-russell

Netflix trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXSiyvI8cFU

Now these people have problems.

Not that they necessarily think they do.

In a world where we can’t stop thinking about the government, it’s interesting to peek into the lives of people just trying to cope, just trying to get by, who want what we do but find it’s an incredibly heavy lift.

In truth, if you’re going to watch this series, you should start with the first season. But the third season just launched and…

Unfortunately, it’s become a phenomenon, and the marketing has been turned up. You’ll see the participants all over social media, even on TV. Then again, privacy is history. You can look up anybody online, find out so much about them. So the wall between who is on TV and who is not has been torn down. There is no anonymity, unless you’re like the Unabomber and live in a cabin off the grid in Montana and what’s the fun in that?

So, you’ve got James. Who is 37 and still lives with his parents.

Having an autistic child is extremely difficult. Talk about your college graduates never leaving the nest, oftentimes not only do autistic people still live at home, they don’t/cannot work.

It’s not like James is stupid, some of these people are absolutely brilliant, like Connor. I listen to him and I feel inadequate, at times he seems to know so much more than me! But coping in society… James wants to get married, but…the girl can’t have children, can’t want children and can’t have pets. And even though his parents tell him not to mention this whenever he meets a woman…he can’t help himself, he does.

Speaking of parents, James’s are marvels. Just regular people from Boston. We’re used to seeing the rich and the dumb and nothing in between on TV. How about the average person who has a job and is middle class and…

James’s father pokes fun at him now and again… That’s another thing, if you have an autistic child, you must have a sense of humor, otherwise you’d never make it.

But there are so many heartbreaking moments. When James doesn’t get picked for a date and his mom is sad…you feel it right in your kishkes.

And then there’s Madison, who is new this season. She talks about growing up… She was a terror nonpareil. Destroying the environment wherever she went. I don’t know how people could tolerate her. Really, when you hear her story you’ll wince. But she’s grown up, she speaks, so many of these people were told they never would. And she goes to church and she’s got friends but she only copes because of beads and making jewelry. And her dolls. She’s got to take dolls on her dates.

And one date… The guy has his head on the table at the restaurant, he puts on his headphones because the ambient noise is too much.

And then there’s Tanner, who is upbeat and lives outside the home but whenever he goes on a date, it’s like Bubba Gump. When he says he likes something, he utters an endless list, not one or two examples, but a whole litany. But he knows what he wants, a woman who speaks as much as he does. Then again, he’s talking with his sister Midge, maybe he has to learn how to cope with someone less verbal?

So many of these people have strict rules. That cannot be broken.

And their parents are angels. Then again, Dani’s parents couldn’t handle her and pawned her off on her aunt.

And Dani seems like you and me, but the more you watch her the more you can see she is on the spectrum. And she’s got Adan as a boyfriend, but she wants physical intimacy and for him…it’s against his religion.

You talk back to the screen, you want them to change or compromise, but they can’t.

Having said that, this year more love blossoms than ever before. And they are so happy in love.

And then there’s Abbey and David, lovebirds for years now. Abbey’s mother can’t believe it, tears come to her eyes, she never thought Abbey could have this.

Then again, at times Abbey seems to be in her own world, looking into the distance, not caring what David thinks.

And other times she professes undying love.

And David is a sweetheart who both manages and comforts Abbey and…

This is not “The White Lotus.” This is not a fantasy, this is real life.

Which is why “Love on the Spectrum” is so riveting.

Not that it’s not escape. It’s escape from your work, from your everyday problems, but it’s still real life. And it makes you realize your challenges could be harder, but it also makes you realize that under the skin we’re all the same, and some of the nicest people have no portfolio, yet they’re much more interesting than the big swinging dicks.

Do I think everybody reading this is going to love “Love on the Spectrum”?

No, because experience has taught me that touchy-feely issues make many squirm. They’d rather live on the surface. They barely know themselves, never mind anybody else. But if you’re truly open to others, if you’re fascinated by the human condition, YOU’LL LOVE THIS!