You don’t do that anymore. Nor do you turn it forward.

Back in the seventies, when going to the movies was still a thing, and L.A. shows were at eight sharp and after ten, I went with my girlfriend for a pizza at La Barbera’s. It was torn down and been replaced by an apartment building, but in the days of yore it was considered the best pie in Los Angeles, not that it was that good, this was before L.A. captured the culinary zeitgeist, before Nancy Silverton put her spin on pizza at Mozza, when you could get something round but it was mostly bread, a far cry from what I grew up with in Connecticut, where the crust is thick and crisp, the underpinning thin and there’s an oil slick on top of the tomato sauce. For the best iteration, with even a thinner skin, go to Pepe’s.

And we’re munching along, having a good time, and when we get up to leave the place is empty and dark, how could this be at five of nine?

Turns out we missed Daylight Saving Time. It was actually five of ten, and there was no way we could make that movie.

Now back in the dark ages, half the year was Daylight Savings and half the year was not. One yearned for that weekend in April when we turned the clocks forward, for that extra hour of sunlight. As for the fall… No one ever went to school in the dark, although that did happen during the oil crisis, when going to Daylight Saving Time in the winter was supposed to save energy. That’s one thing they can never get straight, whether Daylight Saving Time saves energy, they’re still debating its merits. As for me, I LOVE IT! I’m scared by sunrise, it’s so creepy, because usually I see it from the other side, having stayed up all night. I love a good sunset, but unless I’m in a foreign land and the sunrise is a thing, I avoid it.

Then again, it takes a few days to adjust, I was stunned today when I looked at the clock on my Mac and saw it was 6:30 and it was still light out, but that brings me to my point… MY MAC CHANGES TIME AUTOMATICALLY!

Changing the clocks…is that still a thing?

My computers change automatically. My Echos change automatically. The cable box changes automatically. My iPhone changes automatically. Hell, I was reading my Kindle late Saturday night and wireless was turned off and IT changed automatically, HOW DID IT KNOW?

But the big clock in the hall is stuck at five after seven, you know, the one that speaks to that signal in Colorado, this has happened before, it’ll probably start working in a day or two, but now I can’t rely on it when I normally do, imagine if all the clocks that synch to signals didn’t!

I had to change the hour in my car. Do you still have to do that in a Tesla, which famously downloads updates overnight? I drive a 2005, and I’m not trading it in just so I can get the new tech, it’s got satellite radio and a turbocharged engine and that’s enough for me, unless I win the lottery I’m still gonna drive it, especially in the land of valet parking. No one wants to break into my car, if it gets damaged I’ll live, well, not really, but the concept of a car evidencing your status… As for drivability, I’ve got that covered, mine’s a four wheel drive sports car, I don’t need any more, although it is damn noisy.

But the clock in the kitchen, I had to update that. But it’s from the eighties.

And my answering machine… I had to reset that too. AN ANSWERING MACHINE? EVER HEAR OF VOICE MAIL? Of course I’ve heard of voice mail, but I don’t use it, you see I screen all my calls via said answering machine, and the truth is almost all the calls are robotic, most of the time they hang up upon receiving the message.

As for the junk calls on my iPhone, for some reason they’re always from Gardena and I block the number each time. Hell, I haven’t gotten one in weeks… Which means, of course, I’ll get one imminently.

But I’m thinking about it and I’m thinking if you’re a young ‘un, who probably doesn’t even own a wristwatch, you don’t even have to think about Daylight Saving Time, other than the loss of an hour, all your gadgets adjust for you, your computer, your mobile, your Apple Watch… It won’t be long before turning the clock back will be a phrase that generations just don’t understand. Kinda like a skip in a record, then again vinyl is coming back, or a phone booth. You take these concepts for granted, and then there’s a technological breakthrough and they evaporate. Of course there’s a transition period, but how long will those clocks of yore continue to function?

La Barbera’s On Wilshire

Take The Highway – Spotify

And the time has finally come
For me to pack my bags and walk away

Southern rock started as R&B. Duane Allman was playing sessions in Muscle Shoals and Phil Walden was managing Otis Redding. But then…

It didn’t happen overnight, it was years in gestation, a group of players inspired by the blues decided to add a layer of improvisation and with Walden steering them they…

Didn’t break through.

The first Allman Brothers LP was produced by Adrian Barber, famous for his work on Cream’s “Goodbye,” the progenitor of the southern rock sound, the extended English jams, but the end result was too antiseptic. The songs were there, the playing was too, but the magic was absent, it’s all about capturing lightning in a bottle. That’s the thing with art, it’s that indescribable element you can’t put your finger on that puts it over the top, and although some perfectionists who write and record for eons get it right, most successes, most breakthroughs, are inspirational moments laid down nearly instantly which are undeniable, whether it be the opuses of the British Invasion or the drip paintings of Jackson Pollock.

The Allmans’ follow-up was produced by Atlantic’s A-Team, Tom Dowd and Joel Dorn. The rough edges were sanded off, the end result was more palatable for the masses, more radio-friendly, but if you think you heard “Midnight Rider” on the radio back in 1970, you’d be wrong.

But then…

Came “Fillmore East.”

You see the band had been gigging. Getting it right, spreading the word. That’s the way you broke back then, not only the Allman Brothers but thereafter Bruce Springsteen, going to see the Boss it wasn’t so much about the songs but the performance, the stories, the passion. But with the Allman Brothers it was all about…

The playing.

There was no doubt the twin lead guitarists were skilled. These were not the amateurs of yore, great on wax and lame live. They delivered and word started to spread.

Insiders knew. Bill Graham had the Allmans close the Fillmore East. But it wasn’t until the live album was released that it exploded, YEARS after the Allmans had begun to try.

Still, it was another two years after that before casual listeners got infected, when “Ramblin’ Man” was all over AM radio.

Proving…

It starts with a culture. Pushed forward not only by the music, but a businessman, Phil Walden WAS southern rock. And then, eventually the public catches up.

So, if you’re off the mainstream radar and gaining traction and part of a scene maybe, just maybe…

But there used to be a new sound every three to four years. Southern rock was superseded by corporate rock and then disco and then the new wave on MTV and then hair bands, the Seattle sound and popsters and rappers. But now, even though every sound is available at our fingertips it takes even longer to get traction. WHY IS THIS SO?

In a world of infinite choice the customer is alienated. Furthermore, it takes longer for a sound to rise above. And with all the wealth concentrated in a certain sound, everybody goes there. When a few acts are making millions and others thousands, not everybody chases the big cash. But when the top acts make fifty or sixty times more than the lesser ones, all the best business talent goes to the top, it’s no different from society at large, where you have the educated class going into banking and tech because that’s where the money is.

So the Allmans hit and other southern rock bands begin to propagate.

You read about them, but very few broke through. Dixie Dregs, Sea Level, Grinderswitch…they were rarely on the radio. Wet Willie was an exception, they had a song that got airplay, “Keep On Smilin’,” but no live reputation outside of their home base.

And then came the Marshall Tucker Band.

Every successful act depends upon a genius, a songwriter, sometimes a player, even a singer, who puts it over the top. In the case of Marshall Tucker, it was Toy Caldwell. He wrote all the songs on the band’s 1973 debut, and when you dropped the needle…

You were immediately taken away. That’s where you got your best shot, the opening track. “Take The Highway” was akin to “Revival,” but with more energy and more explosiveness.

Even better, the follow-up was superior, “Can’t You See” was the opposite of “Take The Highway,” it was subtle, it didn’t hit you over the head, rather it penetrated your soul, it was the kind of song you played on a Saturday afternoon as you contemplated your life.

Now the irony is the Marshall Tucker Band could never capitalize on this sound, could never deliver on it again, and then it turned more southern, more country and had further success, until Toy Caldwell died and the band became an oldies act.

Meanwhile, Al Kooper moved to Atlanta and signed the overlooked Lynyrd Skynyrd and “Free Bird” was not an overnight success, but within months it became the second most legendary cut on FM radio.

And one other thing about the southern rock cuts, and “Free Bird” and “Stairway to Heaven” too, is they were not made for the gatekeepers, they were not short and compact for radio. “Whipping Post” on “Fillmore East” was twenty three minutes long! And both “Take The Highway” and “Can’t You See” exceeded six minutes.

And Al was not the only man in.

Where there’s success, there are followers.

Epic had Molly Hatchet. Clive even had the Outlaws. Both followed the formula faithfully, extended numbers, but it started to appear like paint-by-numbers, and the whole scene cratered, even the Allmans broke up, and that had to do with more than the music, but their reputation as legends didn’t get burnished and solidified with strength until the nineties.

And that’s the story of southern rock.

But it’s the story of all cultural musical movements.

They don’t come from nowhere.

The Eagles wouldn’t exist without Bob Seger and the Flying Burrito Brothers, never mind “Sweetheart of the Rodeo.” That mixture of rock and country took years to percolate.

It’s much harder if you’re not part of a scene.

But the story is always the same. Prog rock was for aficionados only, but it wasn’t until ’72 that “Roundabout” was on the radio. Where it dominated, people could not get enough of this new sound.

People want new sounds, but they don’t pass from early adopters to looky-loos immediately, they need midwives.

Furthermore, there’s cross-pollination. It was Duane Allman who played the lick on “Layla,” even though most people didn’t know that for decades, if they know it at all. But Eric knew of Duane’s genius.

So what sound is gonna percolate and dominate in the future?

First and foremost you must adopt the tools of the game.

Southern rock was about stretching out on an LP in an era where albums superseded singles. It was about being ready for FM radio, not AM.

But today only hip-hop has embraced the internet fully. Competing genres are still dependent upon terrestrial radio, which doesn’t move the needle, only amplifies and cleans up what’s already there, and has little impact other than in Top Forty and Country.

So you need a melding of culture and technology while you test the limits and admit the past is never coming back.

TAKE THE HIGHWAY!

I read that the first two seasons were leaving Netflix, gone on March 13th, and that was just the impetus I needed to check it out. I hadn’t watched it earlier because everyone said the Danish series it was based upon was better than the American iteration, and I’ve got no problem with subtitles and I believe in going to the source. Speaking of subtitles, the default on “Babylon Berlin” is dubbed, but you can go into the settings and get subtitles, it’s much less jarring.

But you had to pay for the original Danish series and that’s something I’m just not gonna do. First and foremost because I don’t believe in owning content, secondly because I’m sick and tired of paying, Charter/Spectrum just upped my bill to $197 and change and I barely watch television, but if I cancel the tube it’s almost as much for the internet, I can’t wait for 5G when these cable operators finally have some competition.

So we dug in.

Now the funniest thing about watching TV these days is figuring out where you’ve seen the actors before. It took me two episodes to realize that Joel Kinnaman was the Presidential candidate on “House of Cards,” and much more than that to connect Brent Sexton with “Bosch,” the next season of which is imminent, the worst thing about getting hooked on these series is the one year plus wait between binges, which is why it’s best to watch shows that are already completed, like “Breaking Bad.” Felice keeps asking me if there’s a new “Ozark” yet, I tell her it’s far from imminent!

And speaking of actors, the best performance in “The Killing”‘s first season is by one Michelle Forbes, who caught my eye in “Kalifornia” but I’ve rarely seen since. You see I’m not a flipper, I cannot sit in front of the TV every week as they dribble out episodes of series that are long on plot but short on substance. And honestly, “The Killing” falls into this trap until the final wrap-up season, paid for by Netflix, wherein they go much deeper psychologically, I like to dig my teeth in.

Still, I got hooked.

You see with all the focus on rich business titans, it’s the work of the everyday people that’s most interesting. Almost makes you want to be a cop. I could not look at dead bodies all day, not even once a year, and to be honest I’m not that good with puzzles, but you can see how rewarding this work is, which makes you contemplate how you’re spending your life.

As for the political side story… Took me a few episodes to recall I’d seen Billy Campbell in “Once and Again,” remember when Herskovitz and Zwick were the hopes for TV? I loved all their shows, especially the progenitor, “thirtysomething,” but that was thirty years ago and now the torch has been passed. That’s what’s weird about aging, you don’t expect to be replaced, you expect your heroes to continue to dominate, especially when they’re not in sports, but they’re birthing new people every day and they want a chance and they’re hungrier and what they don’t know doesn’t burden them.

But watching the politics in Seattle one wonders… If you start at the bottom can you ever make it to the top? I think it’s a rare event. You read the feel-good stories in the media, but navigating the personas is even more important than your work ethic and product and chances are you’ll get stuck and want to quit, you should quit, that’s America today, no one is looking out for you.

And the plot twists and turns, and it takes two seasons to resolve, and the problem with these mysteries is that unlike real life, there’s always a twist that solves it, you cannot figure it out, not the long game anyway, and this is so frustrating. But the performances are so good… Forbes is distraught as the mother, whereas Sexton plays a modern male, alternately strong and sensitive, a guy who tried to escape his past but is having a hard time doing so. That’s another problem, you can’t find your way in, and when you do you have to do stuff you don’t want to and the question is whether it’s gonna hurt you in the long run.

And I made the mistake of Googling and finding out who the real killer was, so I’m never gonna do that again, the urge is so great, to learn more about these characters you’re spending time with.

And in the third season when the plot turns to a different crime you yearn for the earlier characters, they’re played so well you believe it’s them. That’s what’s different about the Rock and these people, the latter are chameleons, and when you see them in a subsequent role you’re caught off guard.

And then the final Netflix season, which ties it all up…

Funny how the criteria are different. The traditional outlets check ratings, whereas Netflix is all about driving subscriber numbers. It’s these continuations that get people to sign up and then be hooked.

Although Netflix has an evolving paradigm.

First it was movies, via mail.

Then it was old TV shows and fewer movies via streaming.

And then came these extensions of canceled shows.

Then came foreign productions like “Narcos” and new shows like “Bloodline.”

And then there were documentaries and comedy specials and now, now they’re doubling-down on talk shows. Not only with Joel McHale, but now Norm Macdonald, which I believe is a huge mistake, I tried watching his podcast, his delivery is not dynamic and it’s so inside and so amateurish…Norm’s a niche, I could do better than him!

But they’re not gonna give me a show, I’m too old. Then again, Letterman has one, and when Howard Stern appears it will be a moment that captures the cultural zeitgeist, hell, that’s today’s world, either you’re clued in or you’re not, either you can’t stop listening to Howard or you never will. But the thing about Stern is he’s just that much better than everybody else, you get hooked. And it’s the same deal with these Netflix shows, you don’t want to go back to cable, or in my case, you never watched to begin with. You just want to pull up another Netflix show.

But they screwed up the ratings, now everything has four stars and you have to research online to know what’s worth viewing. Which portends the liberties Netflix is gonna take in the future, kinda like Google, which was our friend and now is our enemy, now that we’re hooked.

But Netflix is full-service, you don’t need anything else. Hell, you haven’t got time for anything else.

Just think about it…

You can cancel ALL your TV, you don’t even need a skinny bundle! While the NYT fawns over the decrepit SNL, you can just pull up the skits worth watching the next day online, or you can skip them entirely, I do, they never seem to have an ending, ever hear of a punch line?

But traditional TV is doomed, no one wants to watch by appointment and no one wants to wait for all ten or twelve episodes to appear. First, they came for the fall season, now series are introduced all year long, next they’re coming for the schedule.

And yes, “The Killing” is years old, I’m out of it, I missed it.

But the truth is we’re all missing something these days, anybody who says otherwise is lying. And speaking of lying, the great stuff is lying in wait, for when you’re ready, for when you hear about it. Never forget “Breaking Bad” was a stiff until Netflix made years of episodes available on demand and it blew up. Proving, once again, just because you don’t have an audience, that does not mean you’re bad.

So I watched 42 episodes of “The Killing.” I can’t believe it! Where did the time go!

But that’s modern television, it’s still somewhat comprehensible, you can find the nuggets and go deep, whereas music is nearly incomprehensible and most of what is released is dreck, even the filler on hit albums.

Then again, these series are based on people, on humanity, something that’s in short supply in music. In music you get fantasy and boasting, or faux reality, but we can tell the real thing.

And “The Killing” is pretty damn close.

While oldsters were focused on piracy and streaming payments, youngsters swooped in and stole the music business, and it’s definitely not business as usual.

First and foremost you must be part of a culture, otherwise you don’t succeed. Acts are built online, radio is at most a cherry on top, and you gain interest and gravitas by aligning yourself with other successful purveyors. Starting from scratch alone is anathema, it’s almost impossible to climb to the top, because you can’t gain attention. Which is why the one stop promotion that used to work no longer does. You go on late night TV, you get a review in the newspaper, that used to mean you were on your way, now those are just isolated events. SNL is seen as a victory lap, not a way to break. Because the truth is you have to have broken before. Sure, if you’re an oldster act you can benefit from “CBS Sunday Morning” or a feature in the “New York Times,” but oldsters are waning as an influence and as part of the marketplace.

ARTIST DEVELOPMENT

Is done by yourself, not the label. Everyone can record at home, post video to YouTube and finished tracks to Spotify, et al, never mind Soundcoud. When you hear someone complain, always an oldster, that labels no longer do artist development, ignore them, they’re operating on a past paradigm.

MAJOR LABELS

Their only function is to make you bigger. They used to be repositories of acts with no traction, now they only want to make a deal if you’ve already proven yourself. They’ll promise cash and promotion, both of which are waning in importance. Cash… You can get paid by Spotify by yourself, on a regular basis. Promotion… Majors have a stranglehold on terrestrial radio, but that will mean less and less in an on demand culture where everything is available at a click online. The acts the majors can help most they don’t want. If you can’t make big bucks, the major is not interested. So all you middle class acts can forget about it. Because even though the recording costs might be less, the marketing and promotion efforts are just as big for a small project as well as a niche one, so the major doesn’t want to waste the effort.

STREAMING PAYMENTS

You’re complaining if you’ve got no traction or you’ve got a bad deal. But the youth aren’t complaining, oftentimes they’re giving away mixtapes to further their brand, gain new followers. If you want to get paid by streaming companies, go direct, through Tunecore or CD Baby. Also you must garner tens of millions of streams. This is where the rubber meets the road, if no one is listening, you’re not getting paid. Yes, this is a change from the physical paradigm, even the file paradigm, but those are never coming back, so forget about them.

RECORDINGS ARE AN ADVERTISEMENT

Yes, you can get paid from recordings, but the big money is what the fanbase they generate delivers. Live appearances, sponsorship, privates. Focus on audience, not immediate payment. In a business where it’s always been about the now, this is a reversal most antiques can’t fathom, especially in a business of historical untrustworthiness. But the internet companies are not record companies, streaming doesn’t interpret a contract to your detriment, it just pays. And now touring is run by giant operations that will never stiff you.

TOURING

After putting up so much cash for so little return, promoters are focusing on festivals, where they can make so much more. And they pay well and you get exposure. Don’t think of a festival appearance as breaking your act, but just another brick in the wall. The festival appearance is the opening touring slot of yore.

WINNERS AND LOSERS

The public is confused by the plethora of product. There’s so much music and promotion thereof that all but the most intrepid fans are overwhelmed by it. Therefore, people gravitate to the hits, and it’s only gonna get worse. So you think you’re getting ahead via publicity, but unless you’re part of a culture, which really exists only in hip-hop and country and to a smaller extent EDM, you’re screwed, you can never make it. Sure, you can garner a small audience, maybe play clubs, but graduating to arenas, even theatres? Nigh near impossible. So either accept your fate, pivot, or get out.

HITS

We are in a non-progressive era where it’s so hard to make it that people don’t want to take risk. You can understand why the track’s a hit, but it doesn’t move you. Whether it be “Uptown Funk,” literally based on a hit of yore, or the latest Foster The People track. It’s akin to ear candy. Very few want to take a chance where your new project you slaved over can stiff in a day.

POP

Ran its course. There’s no culture. Everyone moved to hip-hop. This is why Katy Perry and Taylor Swift and Kelly Clarkson failed in the marketplace, they’re starting at square one with their records. So, their fans might buy in, but everybody else ignores them.

COMING TO BAT

There’s no disgrace in failure, especially if you’ve got no traction, the key is to get right back up and play. This is how Justin Bieber went from mid-career wilderness back to the pinnacle. If you’re slaving over an album for years, you’re doing it wrong. Chances are it won’t hit. Focus on singles, put them out and see what happens, it’s about your body of work, not the album itself. People are always ready to pay attention if you deliver once again.

RECORDINGS ARE THE FUEL

You’re nothing without your music. So keep putting it out. When you’re on tour, making bucks, playing to a small fraction of your audience, your casual fans are moving on to something else, such that when you release a new album years down the line you’re starting all over again.

A HIT IS NO GUARANTEE

You must have a relationship with streaming services that playlist it. You must do your best to climb the ladder. If you just release it, they will not come, except in maybe hip-hop, certainly not in country, never mind pop. Rag’n’Bone Man’s “Human” was a hit everywhere but the U.S. It’s the same song, but it wasn’t worked right and it didn’t fit into an obvious culture. Furthermore, Sony was operating with an old playbook, start it on AAA and cross it over, whereas Top Forty looks at streaming numbers and is not in the business of making hits, but capitalizing on them. You build your story online, not on radio.

ALTA KACHERS

Check the headliners at all the festivals. Used to be they were baby boomer acts, but that’s no longer the case. Because baby boomers don’t go to these festivals and it’s been a long time since the heyday of classic rock.

VIDEO

Promotes your own brand, but gets no traction with others unless it goes viral, which is very hard to do and is usually based on a combo of infectiousness and a je nais se quois in the clip itself, like “Despacito.” Just being on YouTube with millions of views does not mean anybody other than your fans is aware. Hell, there are tracks with 50 million streams on Spotify you’ve never ever heard.

So what we’ve learned is the oldsters, who grew up in a major label dominated world, have been left behind, and they don’t even know it. When you hear septuagenarian David Crosby complain about streaming payouts know that most kids have no idea who that is, and their heroes are not complaining and are selling more tickets. This is akin to how the media missed Trump. The landscape changed, and everybody who’d been in the game forever thought they knew better and didn’t.

Going forward it will be about being elevated by your culture. The noise will start in the community, will burgeon online and will be evident on streaming services. Hell, compare Spotify with Mediabase, radio is months behind and it will only get worse as terrestrial tightens up its playlists. Radio is selling advertising, the goal is to get you engaged and keep you there. Whereas streaming services don’t care whether you listen or not, hell, it’s better for them if you just pay and don’t listen at all!