So the grizzled monster won’t let the mentally challenged queen of reality TV sing his song on "America’s Got Talent".\u00c2\u00a0 What’s gotten into this has-been with only one hit?\u00c2\u00a0 He can’t say no to the matron who was last year’s Christmas sensation!<\/p>\n
But for how much longer will Susan Boyle be able to sell product, does anybody truly care?<\/p>\n
Or, as Chicago once so eloquently put it, does anybody really know what time it is?<\/p>\n
Conventional wisdom is you say yes.\u00c2\u00a0 You take the check.\u00c2\u00a0 The more people exposed to your music, the better.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ll hear that mantra from labels, managers and agents, all looking to take their cut of the instant revenue.\u00c2\u00a0 But what happens when you’re old and gray, when your label is done, when you’re no longer speaking to your original manager and your agent’s long since retired?<\/p>\n
If you’re a true Lou Reed fan, you hate Susan Boyle, everything she stands for.\u00c2\u00a0 And by refusing to allow her to sing "Perfect Day", you feel that Lou’s on your team, that he’s got integrity, that he won’t do anything for a buck.\u00c2\u00a0 Lou’s about the artistry, what’s right, not about the money.<\/p>\n
So she sings his song and a lot of casual listeners hear it.\u00c2\u00a0 Is this really going to help Lou’s career?\u00c2\u00a0 Well maybe he could orchestrate a victory lap, get the press to tell his story and get a Kennedy Center Honor.\u00c2\u00a0 But is this what a denizen of Max’s Kansas City is really looking for?\u00c2\u00a0 Andy Warhol always stood apart from the mainstream.\u00c2\u00a0 And if he was involved in it, he laughed at it.\u00c2\u00a0 Wasn’t that the point of the Campbell’s soup cans?\u00c2\u00a0 To challenge the audience?\u00c2\u00a0 To make people analyze what is and is not art?<\/p>\n
Musicians used to challenge the audience.\u00c2\u00a0 Before they became whores who would do anything for a buck.<\/p>\n
They just cleared the decks at EMI.\u00c2\u00a0 Imagine if you were championed by the old regime.\u00c2\u00a0 Deadmau5 was championed by Nick Gatfield, now Nick’s gone, will the new players feel the same way about the deejay?<\/p>\n
The businessmen don’t care about you.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s all a ruse.\u00c2\u00a0 Even David Geffen.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s nice to you today, but tomorrow he could be your enemy, or extract fealty you don’t want to pay in order to maintain the relationship.<\/p>\n
Whereas fans are enthralled.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re dedicated.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re your real customers.<\/p>\n
I don’t think it would have been wrong for Lou Reed to allow Susan Boyle to sing his song on TV, but the fact that he had the right to say no and exercised it makes me feel good about him.\u00c2\u00a0 Lou thought about it!\u00c2\u00a0 Weighed the options and the consequences.\u00c2\u00a0 And came down on the side of not doing anything for a buck.<\/p>\n
Wall Streeters don’t care if they bring down entire countries, as long as they get paid.<\/p>\n
Network TV is about evanescent reality stars with no talent.<\/p>\n
Then there’s Jonathan Franzen.\u00c2\u00a0 Who wouldn’t let Oprah hook up with his book.\u00c2\u00a0 He didn’t want the mainstream imprimatur.\u00c2\u00a0 His "faux pas" was supposed to kill his career.\u00c2\u00a0 But now, half a decade later, he’s the industry’s darling.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s bigger than ever.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s on the cover of "Time". His success is causing its own backlash.\u00c2\u00a0 Isn’t it supposed to be the opposite?<\/p>\n
No, not really. Not when you’re a true artist.\u00c2\u00a0 Not when you write something as good as Franzen’s "Freedom<\/a>".<\/p>\n