{"id":4002,"date":"2011-04-02T05:18:41","date_gmt":"2011-04-02T13:18:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/?p=4002"},"modified":"2013-03-08T08:58:16","modified_gmt":"2013-03-08T16:58:16","slug":"broken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/2011\/04\/02\/broken\/","title":{"rendered":"Broken"},"content":{"rendered":"

James told me he was reading “You Never Give Me Your Money”<\/a>, the story of the Beatles and their business.\u00c2\u00a0 And when he was done telling tales, with a gleam in his eye that made me want to read the book, I asked him why no one ever employed the Beatle formula, good singing with tunes featuring not only catchy choruses, but bridges.<\/p>\n

James said it was just not that simple.\u00c2\u00a0 Where are you going to find two people who hate each other, who would not be friends if not for this band, who inspire each other to greatness?<\/p>\n

Hate may be a strong word, but without the Beatles, Paul McCartney and John Lennon would probably not have hung out.\u00c2\u00a0 But Paul had an incredible sense of melody and white bread lyrics and John criticized and worked with him until Paul emerged triumphant with classics he has not equaled since, and having maligned his fellow Liverpudlian, Lennon had to dig deep and deliver edgy classics, just to maintain his position as the all-knowing expert, the cool dude Paul wanted to impress.<\/p>\n

I never thought of it that way.\u00c2\u00a0 Really, neither did anything quite as good in their solo years, was James right, was it all about this tension in the original band?<\/p>\n

But even though the Beatles had two songwriters, Elton John was a solo act.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, Bernie wrote the lyrics, but not only did Elton compose the tunes, he fronted the music on stage.\u00c2\u00a0 What about Elton?\u00c2\u00a0 Why was he successful?<\/p>\n

INSECURITY!<\/p>\n

He’s a gay guy, closeted and uptight, so he covers it up with flamboyant outfits and outrageous stagecraft so you won’t look too deeply, so he won’t look too deeply himself.<\/p>\n

I realized that was the secret.\u00c2\u00a0 Nobody had a run like Elton’s.\u00c2\u00a0 Multiple records per year, all good, most fantastic until ’76’s “Blue Moves”.\u00c2\u00a0 He didn’t labor over albums, he went in and banged them out.\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” was a double.\u00c2\u00a0 Somehow, by avoiding his demons, Elton created masterpieces.\u00c2\u00a0 He was constantly working, rarely thinking, and that’s why he was so damn good.\u00c2\u00a0 He was the pilot running on instinct.<\/p>\n

So now I was flummoxed.\u00c2\u00a0 I had no idea people still thought that hard, theorized about what was good and bad and why.\u00c2\u00a0 I’d just been on the phone the night before with a friend who told me she was addicted to four new albums…\u00c2\u00a0 I’m addicted to the Internet, music not so much, not too much reaches me, then again, this woman and I have one act in common, Ryan Adams.<\/p>\n

And when I brought up his name to James he said Ryan was BROKEN!\u00c2\u00a0 That all great artists are BROKEN!<\/p>\n

James spoke of this band that came into his studio, with a song that was good enough to make him feel inadequate, made him wish he’d written it himself.\u00c2\u00a0 Should he cast aside other obligations and dedicate himself to helping this band make it?\u00c2\u00a0 He decided not to.\u00c2\u00a0 Because no one in the band was broken.\u00c2\u00a0 They were too normal.\u00c2\u00a0 And we’re not interested in normal.<\/p>\n

James recited the names of some of the people he’d worked with.\u00c2\u00a0 From Trent Reznor to Perry Farrell.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re not like us.\u00c2\u00a0 But you knew that.\u00c2\u00a0 But he also mentioned Bonnie Raitt.\u00c2\u00a0 I know Bonnie.\u00c2\u00a0 Whoever you think she is on stage, in person she’s this strange amalgam of passion and irreverence and you say to yourself “I just haven’t met someone like this before.”\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, she didn’t even write most of her material and we’re still listening, because of the way she delivers it, making it all about the art as opposed to the money.<\/p>\n

Broken people are oftentimes depressives.\u00c2\u00a0 Frequently perfectionists.\u00c2\u00a0 Oftentimes they’re impossible to work with and you wouldn’t even want to go to dinner with them.\u00c2\u00a0 But you can’t stop listening to their music.<\/p>\n

James analogized it to films.\u00c2\u00a0 His favorites tended not to be perfect, it’s just that they had something…\u00c2\u00a0 That explains the success of “Harold and Maude”, but it also explains why I love “Something Wild”.\u00c2\u00a0 I can criticize it, but the tension, the truth spoken by Jeff Daniels, the lies, the juxtaposition of the nerd and the free spirit are such that I will never forget it.<\/p>\n

And I’m thinking about today’s music scene.\u00c2\u00a0 On one hand, you’ve got Top Forty stars.\u00c2\u00a0 They want to be rich and famous.\u00c2\u00a0 Most do not sustain, but somehow Britney Spears does.\u00c2\u00a0 Is it because of this same broken quality?<\/p>\n

And then there are the alternative acts.\u00c2\u00a0 You know, the guys with mediocre voices and guitars.\u00c2\u00a0 Oftentimes they’re just doing it for a couple of years after college, if they don’t get traction they’re going to go to graduate school.\u00c2\u00a0 Broken people can barely graduate from high school.<\/p>\n

And now, more than ever, broken people are not executives.\u00c2\u00a0 The suits hate broken people.\u00c2\u00a0 Because they don’t show up on time and you never know if they’ll deliver.\u00c2\u00a0 They want music made on an assembly line, on time and with no surprises.\u00c2\u00a0 But the greats always surprised us.<\/p>\n

Like Pink Floyd.\u00c2\u00a0 Their legendary period was when both Gilmour and Waters were in the band.\u00c2\u00a0 Waters had contempt for Gilmour.\u00c2\u00a0 Almost wouldn’t write lyrics for “Comfortably Numb”.\u00c2\u00a0 But when he did, they had to be better than David’s music, to show him up.\u00c2\u00a0 And isn’t it interesting that neither has scaled the heights without the other.\u00c2\u00a0 They can call all the shots, but they’ve got nothing to prove.\u00c2\u00a0 And if you don’t think Roger Waters is a fucked up guy…<\/p>\n

Broken makes it interesting.\u00c2\u00a0 These people look at the world differently.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re willing to take chances, both creative and business, because they’ve got little to lose, they don’t fit in, they’re not sacrificing much, it’s not like they’re going to be purged from the game…THEY’RE NOT IN THE GAME!<\/p>\n

And that’s why music is in the doldrums.\u00c2\u00a0 What kind of person makes a deal with a corporation?\u00c2\u00a0 Leave out the money, how many corporations can you believe in, aren’t they what’s wrong with America?\u00c2\u00a0 Tom Waits just got inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.\u00c2\u00a0 He never had a hit, never had a monster album, but he’s an original, who wouldn’t dare tie up with Procter & Gamble or any other man.\u00c2\u00a0 I remember running into him at the Troubadour in the seventies, when he was living at the Tropicana and we’d all had too much to drink…\u00c2\u00a0 He was an asshole then, and for all I know still is one.<\/p>\n

You can’t tell an asshole what to do.\u00c2\u00a0 Principle is more important.\u00c2\u00a0 Think of John Fogerty.\u00c2\u00a0 He wouldn’t play the Creedence hits just to fuck with Saul Zaentz.\u00c2\u00a0 He’d rather hurt himself than benefit a prick who screwed him.\u00c2\u00a0 Huh? Meanwhile, you’re reading business books about how to get ahead in the organization, what to wear, how to hold back your emotions.<\/p>\n

And speaking of broken, is there anybody more broken than Axl Rose?\u00c2\u00a0 How about Sly Stone before him?<\/p>\n

Music is an incredibly powerful medium.\u00c2\u00a0 But as a result of MTV and the CD replacement business, all the money, risk was eviscerated from the mainstream, broken people were excluded.\u00c2\u00a0 Ever wonder why there’s never been another Van Morrison?\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, Prince got into a war with Warner Brothers because he wanted to release more music!\u00c2\u00a0 And the aforementioned Ryan Adams released so much music that we stopped paying attention.\u00c2\u00a0 But not completely, we’re always interested, you never know what he might do.<\/p>\n

But Vanilla Ice is gonna do nothing.\u00c2\u00a0 Nor is J. Lo.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re just too normal, and also not talented enough.<\/p>\n

I believe the classic rock era was like the Renaissance.\u00c2\u00a0 Happened once in history and that was it.\u00c2\u00a0 But that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been great painting and sculpture since.\u00c2\u00a0 Stop quoting grosses.\u00c2\u00a0 Stop saying today’s music is as good as that of the past.\u00c2\u00a0 Have you ever hung with Joni Mitchell?\u00c2\u00a0 One of the most fucked up people on the planet. Talk about broken…\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, she sacrificed her newborn baby to save her marriage and career.\u00c2\u00a0 But in the history of rock and roll, there’s never been anybody better than Joni.\u00c2\u00a0 She can sing, write and play.\u00c2\u00a0 And all the difficulty you experience off record somehow does not make it on.\u00c2\u00a0 We’re always interested in what Joni has to say.\u00c2\u00a0 We don’t care what today’s hitmakers and wannabes have to say.\u00c2\u00a0 Which is first and foremost, SHOW ME THE MONEY!\u00c2\u00a0 Be great. Be unique.\u00c2\u00a0 Be an individual and the money will come.\u00c2\u00a0 Assuming you don’t need it.\u00c2\u00a0 Assuming you can’t stop being who you are.\u00c2\u00a0 Assuming you’re sitting at home wondering why no one’s inviting you for dinner even though you want to go, not knowing that you can be intolerable.\u00c2\u00a0 Assuming you’re unfiltered and unfettered enough to lay it down on wax.<\/p>\n

Hell, is there anybody more broken than Don Henley?\u00c2\u00a0 He’s got a thin skin, he’s opinionated, he’s rarely nice.\u00c2\u00a0 He leads with his talent, figures that will open the doors.<\/p>\n

And you hate him for it.<\/p>\n

That’s a rock star.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s why he and his band own the best selling record of all time.\u00c2\u00a0 We’re interested in people like that.\u00c2\u00a0 We’re not interested in you.<\/p>\n

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James told me he was reading “You Never Give Me Your Money”, the story of the Beatles and their business.\u00c2\u00a0 And when he was done telling tales, with a gleam in his eye that made me want to read the book, I asked him why no one ever employed the Beatle formula, good singing with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music-business"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s96vPs-broken","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4002"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6723,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4002\/revisions\/6723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}