“Facing boycott, Laura Ingraham apologizes for taunting Parkland teen over college rejections”

The corporation is not your friend. It’s an inanimate entity that depends upon you for survival. You tell it what to do, not vice versa.

The veneration of companies, especially those in tech, came in the wake of the capitulation to corporations by musical acts in the nineties. You couldn’t believe in the pop stars, you could believe in Steve Jobs and Apple, back when he didn’t do any market research and told you what you wanted, as opposed to the “artists” on assembly lines trying to turn out songs akin to Camrys. Not a bad automobile, but hard to get excited about.

Then Napster eviscerated recording income and the music business rushed to the man, i.e. the corporations, to fund their endeavors, to make them rich. From privates to sponsorships, the goal was to get the man to pay, as if the man never extracted his price.

They call it a chilling effect. Corporations don’t want to be associated with anything controversial. So, inherently, if you were taking the money, you were blinking, even if it was subconsciously.

Now Live Nation is a public company itself. It’s no wonder it makes sponsorship deals with the man. But no one would come if there were not talent on stage. WHAT EXACTLY ARE WE SELLING?

Certainly not controversy, unless it’s related to sex and breaking the law. Music has been dumbed-down, just like the movies. Sure, there’s a business in superheroes, but there’s no NUTRITION!

And common wisdom tells us the public is fine with this, artists selling out, being fed pabulum.

And then comes Parkland.

In case you missed the news, Fox News host Laura Ingraham tweeted giving David Hogg crap about being rejected by four colleges. We can wonder about a person who attacks a minor publicly in this way. Is this the same mind-set that condones coal mining and fracking and everything with an environmental cost as long as the Republicans stay in power? Is this how low one team has gone? Where winning is everything and decency is nothing?

Looks like it.

And then David Hogg takes to Twitter and asks who Ingraham’s sponsors are. And then employs social media to get his followers to contact them and get them to abandon Ingraham.

AND THEY DO! JUST THAT FAST!

Now ultimately Ingraham apologizes, with some baloney about it being Holy Week, as if one needs an excuse to do the right thing, but the point here is David Hogg and his posse harnessed the power of corporations to THEIR benefit, not vice versa!

That’s what artists do. David Hogg is more of an artist than most of the acts in the Spotify Top Fifty.

An artist does what’s right, not what’s expedient.

An artist speaks from the heart, with his or her truth, believing the audience will resonate.

An artist is a leader, not a follower, he or she is always one step ahead of his fans.

We’re living the Arab Spring. Which is not surprising, that we’re seven years behind, after all this hogwash about the U.S. being the greatest country in the world the truth is we’re ignorant in so many ways, and we’ve let money rule us.

That’s what this is about, money. Believe me, otherwise Laura Ingraham wouldn’t back down. An artist is not beholden to money, especially today. He or she can utilize the digital tools to get their message out, and if it resonates, there is no limit to its acceptance, unlike Bill O’Reilly, who loses his platform and falls off the edge of the earth.

This is not about right or left, sure Ingraham was way out of line, and one has to ask why the right continues to punch below the belt, this is about the power of the individual, the power of right, the power to lead.

You go into uncharted territory. Based on a feeling. You ride the reaction. You make it up as you go.

That’s why we adhered to the acts of yore, we had no idea what they’d do next, NOW WE DO! Music is like baseball, the game remains the same, only the players change, whereas in art…the game needs to be constantly reinvented.

Everything’s up for grabs. And if you’re an artist know that money is secondary to message, and if the message is good enough there’s plenty of money.

Play from the heart. Don’t overcalculate. Turn on a dime. Harness the power of your adherents, use the man as a tool.

Like David Hogg.

(Accompanying Herself On Piano) NEW YORK TENDABERRY

Laura Nyro Sings “Save The Country”

I got fury in my soul
Fury’s gonna take me to the glory goal

Stormy Daniels outranked the Grammys, she pulled more viewers on the same damn channel, CBS, 22 million to 19.8. What is happening here? It sure ain’t exactly clear.

But what we’ve got is a President who resembles a heavy metal band, an outlaw who appeals to a tiny sliver of the populace which believes it’s been screwed and wants revenge, even though the rest of the people abhor them.

Meanwhile, today’s metal bands are a caricature of themselves. If they really wanted to make a statement, they’d shun the tattoos and piercings and play acoustically.

But that ain’t music today.

I read something interesting over the weekend, you can do anything, people can connect with anything, as long as your work is based in passion, as long as it’s what YOU want to do, that’s what’s missing from today’s music scene, there’s too much CALCULATION!

And bitching.

Funny how everybody said Spotify was the enemy and now music revenues have gone up by double digits. Funny how the press amplifies the stories of the nitwits and the left behind. Meanwhile, Spotify going public means nothing to you, it’s a business story, the Wall Street casino, it’s just a way for investors to cash out, pay no attention.

Meanwhile, the only thing everybody cares about these days is politics.

Used to be the highest calling was to work in the music industry.

And then tech.

Now the only thing people want to pay attention to is our government, because they’re afraid. Meanwhile, we’ve got no leaders, and the parking meters have all been sold to hedge funds, truly.

We were for the Vietnam War before we against it. Folkies were for peace, but it wasn’t until the rockers started standing up that the rest of us did too, when we we realized that the United States could not only be wrong, it could lose.

Very tumultuous times the late sixties, akin to now. Only in this case the twentysomethings have been superseded by the teenagers, who are taking matters into their own hands and injecting a shock to the system.

“For What It’s Worth” came out in 1967. Before Martin and Bobby were cut down, that happened the following year. “For What It’s Worth” was a reaction to the Sunset Strip riots at Pandora’s Box, now a footnote in history, the song eclipses the inspiration. But protest penetrated the Top Forty.

Now the Top Forty means less than ever before.

You see the systems are collapsing. The major labels say you need them to get on radio and TV when they mean less than ever before. Spotify says you don’t need a label at all. And you just can’t fathom how you can rise above.

Only by being in your own business. Every act is in its own business these days. If you’re waiting for your lucky moment, you’re delusional, satisfy your core and hope that they spread the word, don’t care about anybody else, the press, the looky-loos, they won’t adhere to you and help you survive, in a nation of grazers you want to lock on to your own people.

Like Laura Nyro.

She became famous for writing hits for others, most notably the Fifth Dimension. And when she was doing her act, live entirely solo, there was no one else like her, proving once again the way to prominence is by being unique.

Her first LP was a demonstration of her hits.

The second, although it contained the soon to be legendary “Stoned Soul Picnic,” made a statement with “Poverty Train,” but that was back in ’68, when we were concerned about our brethren, trying to lift them up rather than get them addicted to opioids.

And then Laura wrote “Save The Country.”

Come on people, come on children

Great artists implore their audience to action. They’re cheerleaders, getting the audience off its feet, to stand up for what’s right.

I got fury in my soul.

I do. Do you? I think you do!

In my mind I can’t study war no more.

I can’t study duplicity, dishonesty, I don’t want to feel powerless, I want a call to action.

We could build a dream with love

Like those demonstrating students, unlike Fox News. Hatred has ruled for far too long. We’ve got to come together, like in that old Youngbloods song, we’ve got to get back to the garden, like Joni Mitchell sang, we’ve got to leave behind the hedonism, the capitalism, and focus on the message.

There’s power in song.

HARNESS IT!

Manager of Marshmello (and more!)

I wrote about Moe here:

Moe Shalizi

You can listen to a one minute excerpt of the podcast here:

Moe Shalizi on the podcast: pic.twitter.com/g1nf8s2IiI

— Bob Lefsetz (@Lefsetz) March 27, 2018

Listen to the entire podcast here:

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The Mechanism

We’re looking for a strongman. Someone to not only make the trains run on time, but to take care of us, give us a leg up, opportunity, even though our prayers will never be answered.

Blame the internet.

But it started before that. The rich spreading inaccurate information while they pay the politicians to make it all go away. Can you say Timothy Geithner? Can you say Wall Street? How many bad actors who blew up the economy went up the river. NONE! Why? It would be too detrimental to society, to our nation, business must go on.

At least that’s what they think.

So Trump gets elected and the left wing is jumping out of its skin. But if you notice, it’s primarily the educated left wing, those living on the coasts, who are angry that a system working for them might be broken up, might leave them with less. Meanwhile, these same people never cared about those left out as a result of globalization, and those profiting from globalization are making bank.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. The Wall fell. Communism faltered. Democracy was gonna reign. But it didn’t. Putin not only runs Russia, his countrymen approve of him! Sure, it might have been a sham election, but citizens like that he makes things work, eliminated the chaos, makes them proud to be Russian.

And now you’re apoplectic, telling me how wrong I am.

But I’m not sure that’s the case.

I just finished watching “The Mechanism,” a Brazilian mini-series about corruption on Netflix. I did because it has the same producer as “Narcos,” but I cannot recommend it, it’s slow and confusing and it doesn’t add up until the end, with a cliffhanger leaving answers for another season. But at least it’s not HBO. The lauded “Barry” began tonight. If you think I’m still up for appointment TV you’re dreaming, just like the movie studios. Nobody I know goes to the movies, I’ve been quizzing people, but every Friday the paper is laden with reviews. Meanwhile, the major outlets didn’t even review “The Mechanism,” and I doubt there will be word of mouth, so you won’t see it.

But the message…

It’s about corruption in Brazil. The good guys versus the bad, the cops versus the corporations. And then you realize, it’s just like here.

Sure, the cops shoot and beat up innocent people, but that distracts us from the fact that if we can’t depend upon law enforcement, the laws themselves are worthless. Which is why the firing of Comey and McCabe is such a big deal, why Trump’s denigration of the CIA and other agencies is so important. What we end up with is chaos.

And the only person who can eliminate the chaos is a strongman, we have to put all our faith in this individual, otherwise we’re screwed.

As for the internet, it was supposed to give everybody a voice, out the truth. But what has happened is we’ve ended up with cacophony, with everybody following their own news, and few knowing what is really going on. I woke up this morning and checked all the outlets, they all led with the Parkland protests, the anti-gun marches, the NYT, the LAT, even the WSJ. But not on FoxNews, if you went to their site you had to scroll down to nearly the bottom to see a line about the protests, without even a picture. Later in the day a story appeared further up the page, saying that the estimate of attendees was way off. So if you were relying on Fox for your information…

You didn’t believe what everybody else did.

But it gets worse.

Used to be there were very few news organizations. We trusted them.

But now everybody is a newsperson, and they’re spreading their stories, and there’s a plethora of places to get them. Not only the aforementioned biggies, but Apple News, all the other online outlets, like Facebook.

Will Facebook get a penalty or pay the ultimate price, destruction?

It almost doesn’t matter, because the truth is the Facebook-owned Instagram is bigger than its older brother now anyway. You could wipe Facebook from the face of the earth and Instagram would only grow, enriching the same damn people. They can’t eliminate Facebook anyway, because too many people love to share. To their ultimate detriment.

So right now, the corporations paying the politicians has never been more visible. Can you say THE NRA? Which is a lobbying organization for gun manufacturers? Congresspeople are afraid to go anti-gun, meanwhile, years of right wing diatribes have the same ignorant people voting for a strongman believing if they just have a gun, or maybe twenty, they can protect themselves from government overreach, ain’t that a laugh. The truth is these people are powerless, and as long as the string-pullers keep demonizing immigrants, people of color and gays, they’ll stay in their pocket. Kinda like this trans debate. Is that the biggest issue, trans people going to the bathroom of their choice? I’d say a much bigger issue is finding a public bathroom at all, but that’s been lost in the obfuscation.

The game was always rigged, but now it’s gotten worse. The rich live a completely different lifestyle from the poor. And the so-called middle class, the college-educated, don’t want to see the rich penalized so much as they want to be rich themselves! And if you’re poor, you don’t want your illusions shattered, life is too hard at your minimum wage job to believe this is all there is. Meanwhile, they play the lottery, a tax upon these same players, for a chance to make it. Even though the wealthy, those who institute this gaming, never play, they know the odds are prohibitive, better to hoard your cash. But they were the beneficiaries of the best schools, whereas the rank and file are victimized by a nation that believes taxes are bad, unions are bad, and it all comes down to the teachers, and if we could just privatize all this, everything would work out. Yeah, like the Austin bomber who was home-schooled.

Now way back when they made a movie about an honest politician, “Mr. Smith Goes To Washington.” Hell, it wasn’t that long ago there was a movie about unions, “Norma Rae.” But the only senator speaking the truth was Bernie Sanders, who was undermined by the Democratic machine and Reagan fired the air traffic controllers and Scott Walker gets recalled and still wins, after eviscerating union power. Because people sit at home and believe the problem is everyone but themselves, if they were just left alone to live their lives without regulation everything would work.

Like the buildings collapsing in third world countries, like dying from pollution. We need government, we need roads, we need safety, but it’s been demonized to the point it no longer works.

Except for those running it.