“The thrill of victory…
The agony of defeat.”

That’s what we heard every Saturday afternoon, when Jim McKay took the mic for ninety minutes as ABC traveled the globe bringing us back footage of events both noteworthy and curious on “Wide World of Sports.”

We looked forward to it. We knew the record for jumping barrels at Grossinger’s. We watched antique timing in faraway cities.

And we dreamed.

Life is about dreaming. When your fantasies are gone, you’re done. You’re always dreaming of a rainbow, of a valley over the mountain, of a better place, it keeps you going. And on the journey there are unexpected highs.

Like watching the Olympics in South Korea.

I’m a Winter Olympics guy. I’m a snow sports guy. I grew up on the east coast when there were no track and field clubs, no swimming teams with 6 AM practices, none of the start ’em before consciousness and groom ’em for greatness. We were just kinda normal. We went to school, we changed into our dungarees after class and played in the park. We were exposed to greatness on television, but it was far from our everyday experience.

Then came the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley. We did not know they were a charmed event never to be repeated, all athletes in one small area for a week. The destination was perfect, all snowy and alpine, and the last time I checked the United States victory over Russia’s hockey team was still on the scoreboard in the ice arena.

But that was decades ago.

Now Americans are good skiers.

Now athletes are jocks.

Now they’ve modernized the events to appeal to the younger generation.

But it’s the oldsters who are watching.

And they don’t exactly know why. It’s tradition. It’s a way to connect. It roots you to who you once were.

Now for a moment there, live events were all about tweeting. About broadcasting your opinion to the masses. But the great communications revolution is not Instagram, not influencers on YouTube, but one on one connections, when your phone lights up with an iMessage or text illustrating that your relation miles away is doing the exact same thing you are.

Watching.

My little sister in Minneapolis was waiting for the slalom to begin.

Mikaela Shiffrin is not that lovable. Certainly less than the oft-injured Lindsey Vonn. You see she’s a machine. And sports used to be for everyman. Before you had to exclude other activities and spend hours in the gym. I’m into dominance, I’m into success, but when you give up a powder day to run gates, what are you gonna do with the rest of your life?

Have fun, like Shaun White.

Sports are most interesting when they’re created on the fly, before the codification, before the rigidity. When like-minded acolytes are developing the rules.

Shaun White was at the tail end of that, the grommet who grew.

And then he became an American story. He failed, he played music, he lost his muse.

And now he was ready for his big comeback.

In the semis he performed.

He excelled in the first of three final runs.

And then the Japanese competitor from Breckenridge pulled ahead.

And this is where the humanity comes in. The Flying Tomato psyched himself up for his next run and…failed.

We’ve all been there, behind the 8 ball, how do you rise to the occasion?

Most choke. Some exit all together. But it’s the nature of life, you’ve got to stand up and compete, or lose.

And it’s easier to lose than win.

But winning moves you further down the game board of life, where your fantasies lie.

And this is not digital, this is not ones and zeros. There’s no help, no cheating, just you and the elements. Could he do it?

I wasn’t sure.

It’s easier to lead than to come back, especially at this elite level.

He failed in his second attempt.

And now it was down to his final chance.

It was the driver’s test. It was the SATs. It was the bar exam. But it only comes every four years and you age out. Imagine the pressure!

But losing is no big deal. After all, White is already rich, already famous, his life is set, he’s got his gold medal, but…

The line between victory and defeat is a razor’s edge, in a moment you can lose it, how do you ride the serpent?

Now many people go into the arts to avoid sports, they don’t like the competition, they’re more into exploration.

But the truth is we’ve all got to deliver, we’ve all got to serve somebody, we’ve all got to answer to ourselves.

So Shaun White threw down.

It’s meaningless. A sporting competition. Not involving nuclear weapons or diplomacy, not about hunger or health. Still, all our little lives are important to us. These moments, these hills climbed, change the course of our existence.

So, Shaun White does his best and then…

Waits.

Credit NBC, they didn’t repeat his run, they just lingered on White, as he stood there anxiously, both elated and worried. He knew he threw down a good one, was it good enough?

And when it turned out it was…

He exulted.

He slapped hands.

And then he cried.

Big boys do cry. But too many big boys hold it inside, are controlled, refuse to let their real feelings out. They’re compromised.

Which is why we look to sports for our better selves, to be instructed.

The failure in Sochi, the accident Down Under, all the practicing…

It came down to one run. A gauntlet. A superpipe. His destiny.

So we feel good for Shaun White. And we feel good for America. In one run he eclipsed all the b.s. in Washington, all the hate, all the division… He draped the flag on his back and then it slid to the snow. Was this offensive? Is this what we’re discussing? It’s not about the country but humanity, about people. And those in power have forgotten how to live, or at least how we live.

Most of what we do no one is paying attention to. We roll the dice and move our pieces down the board. We take risks, we look for instruction but there are false gods everywhere, telling us they know and we should follow them. It’s hard to hew to your own line, hard to keep your eye on the prize.

And then you see someone do it and EUREKA! The clouds part and the sun is bright and you can see the path, you know where you’re going, you believe you can get there, you don’t care if anybody’s paying attention, you’re doing it for yourself.

That’s when you smile inside.

When you feel part of a community, when you gain inspiration from the trials and tribulations and triumphs of another human being.

When you see Shaun White win the gold medal at the Olympics.

He made me feel inadequate.

You think you want to go down one path, then you find out you’re unsuited for it. Even worse, you age and discover that your heart’s desire is not. I remember wanting to be an agent, at this late date the idea of negotiating for a living is anathema to me, but what did I know then?

Bupkes.

Anyway, Guerinot grows up in Rochester and moves to Orange County, the home of his beloved Lakers, and finds his way in the music business because he’s a self-starter. He books gigs at school, then takes over a club, then works for a promoter and goes on to an even bigger one. There’s a great story of sitting on Brian Murphy’s couch while the promoter calls Cynthia Fox, the legendary KMET deejay, about upcoming Springsteen shows at the Coliseum. What we want is access and to feel like an insider. Guerinot achieves both.

But when he feels he’s getting a raw deal at Avalon he moves on to Universal and doesn’t like it there and ends up at A&M. Geiger hips him to gigs, it’s all about your network, but it’s also about being hungry and taking advantage of opportunities.

Which Guerinot does.

Which makes me feel inadequate. I’m more cerebral, I’m more reticent, I’m so busy weighing the options that I don’t take advantage.

And for those out of the loop, Jim ends up managing not only Social Distortion, but the Offspring and Nine Inch Nails and No Doubt and he even has a record label with total control under Clive Davis!

And now he’s excited about teaching.

You’ll get it all here.

Listen for the story.

But also ask yourself if you can be Jim. If you could make the same choices and create the same opportunities.

If not, maybe you should forge your own path.

TuneIn

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Overcast

And he needs to be replaced by a woman.

Neil’s been there over 15 years, longer than most record company execs whose behinds he so busily kisses.

Instead, the Recording Academy continues to look backward, living in the past, just like the recording industry did for so many years confronted with digital disruption, isn’t it time to have someone lead us into the future?

Neil was a caretaker in the wake of the tumultuous reign of Mike Greene. Now it’s time to have a leader.

I could point out Portnow’s flaws, including the ill-advised New York Grammy journey wherein millions were lost, but this is not about his failings so much as an opportunity to move the organization forward, change it for a changed environment.

As for the task force, it resembles nothing so much as a movie cliche, ROUND UP THE USUAL SUSPECTS AND DO NOTHING!

So the Grammy organization needs to be rebuilt from the ground up.

And a woman must head it.

The men are gonna say there’s no female qualified. They always say this. They don’t mentor women, they don’t lift them up, they just throw their hands in the air after declaring their hands are tied. The greatest musical artists inform and lead, whereas the Grammy organization is run like the worst of bureaucracies, with little transparency and no change.

So it’s time to give a woman an opportunity! Hell, maybe even hire a manager from the outside, some new blood with fresh insight. Or maybe even a woman musician, like saxophonist Mindi Abair, who has been involved with the organization for years. Not that I’m positing she’s the right person for the position, I’m just saying the net should be cast wide and there are many women who can STEP UP and fill Portnow’s shoes.

But the Trustees are blind, so busy giving Grammys to their cronies they completely miss what is happening in popular music.

The Oscars are castigated for being too white and the organization shakes out dead wood and actively seeks new members, AMPAS reacted immediately, whereas NARAS did nothing, waiting for the storm to pass, which is amazing, since music is more topical and reacts more quickly than film.

Anybody can misspeak.

But not anybody can be asleep at the wheel.

When organizations don’t reinvent themselves, they die, just like the Grammy ratings. Produce those numbers in Silicon Valley and you’re ousted, immediately, because shareholders are afraid of totally losing their investment.

It’s time for the Grammys to pivot. Instead, the organization is staying on its lazy course.

As for Mr. Portnow’s contract/salary, let’s not forget this is the man who moved the organization to new digs without selling the old building. If it was about money, he would have been bounced long ago.

But it’s not about cash, it’s about meaning, it’s about direction, it’s about doing what’s right.

Let’s not allow them to get away with it. Let’s not let the uproar fade. Let’s keep the pressure on. How are we supposed to have faith in the organization if it can’t clean and take care of its own house?

Portnow has to go.

The rolls must be cleaned.

New members must be signed up.

Transparency must be instituted.

This fiasco cannot continue.

Because although the Grammys always lacked credibility, now they’ve become a joke.

Jade Bird – Lottery

Music discovery is broken.

If this were the late 80s, Jade Bird would already be a star. The above video would have been aired on MTV and fans would have been intrigued, purchased her album, gone to see her and eagerly awaited the follow-up.

Now most people have no idea who Jade Bird is.

Actually, she’s a twenty year old Englishwoman and that’s her real name. An EP was released last year, but you only know if you’re in the know. Which some are, each track on that EP has over a million streams. But most people are unaware.

I thought Jimmy Iovine was gonna solve music discovery…

He certainly didn’t.

There’s just too much product. And the product mixes with the art and it’s completely overwhelming. We need a national top ten that’s compiled from all genres.

If I go on Spotify and check out the top tracks it’s all hip-hop, at least in America.

Looking for a bit of breadth, I went to the global chart, you don’t have to rap to make it in the rest of the world. And I discovered this cut “IDGAF” by Dua Lipa. And that stands for…

Well, you can listen here:

IDGAF – Spotify

IDGAF – YouTube

It’s strangely hooky, it’s the sing-songy chorus that puts it over the top, play it to the end and you have to hear it again.

Why is this not a hit in America yet? We live in a global business but Warner just started working this in the U.S. Yes, that’s how far we’ve come, even a glorified hit gets no traction in another market.

But back to Jade Bird.

“Lottery” sounds nothing like what’s in the Spotify Top 50 or on Top 40 radio, which is why it’s such a revelation. Isn’t this what we’ve been looking for, something DIFFERENT?

But we no longer allow different, it’s all me-too.

Now last I checked “Lottery” has made it all the way to #19 on AAA, showing how moribund that format is. It’s kinda like winning a Grammy in one of those down the list categories, hope it makes you feel good, BECAUSE NO ONE IS PAYING ATTENTION!

But we’d like to!

Last night I got stuck on Casting Crowns’ “Broken Together.” Which I found via Discovery Weekly, thank god, BUT HOW DO I FIND MORE?

That’s right, where do I go for meaningful music, with melody and changes, how do I find that?

I HAVE NO IDEA!

I can listen to genre playlists, but the crap to good ratio is horrendous.

And then I wonder what playlist has the music I want to hear.

And I utilize music as foreground, I’m not gonna put on a playlist and let it play in the background hoping something jumps out.

Instead, I click through cut by cut, skipping ahead in search of something good, but it’s truly like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Now “Lottery” does not need the video to convince you.

There’s the earnestness, but even more there’s the bridge. Remember when the Beatles use to employ these? Now we’ve just got beats, it’s all repetitive with no melody and…

Where’s the one playlist with ten good tracks of all genres?

How do we all come together?

Everywhere I go people want to talk television. But not music. Because we haven’t heard the same things. BUT WE WANT TO!

“Lottery” on Spotify