Subject: RE: Mike Vernon

Bob, John Mayall never used my service to find musicians but his wife’s all female band “Maggie Mayall and the Cadillacs” used me several times.  Anyway, Sammy, Mayall’s 10 year old son, (this was in 2005) was on my kid’s Little League baseball team. John would attend most every game in Woodland Hills, always sitting by himself in a fold-up chair he brought, never sitting in the bleachers with the rest of us.  Maybe he thought he would be recognized but I doubt if any of the baseball parents knew who he was.  But I did.

Sterling Howard, founder/owner

https://www.MusiciansContact.com

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From: Richard Gottehrer

Subject: Re: Mike Vernon

Hi Bob

He was a producer…. he produced records with Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac and Stan Webb’s Chicken Shack (the eventual combination of which formed the basis of the legendary Fleetwood Mac), Savoy Brown, 10 Years After, and “Hocus Pocus” by Focus, the first major hit that Seymour and I released on Sire.

Mike’s greatness and contribution to the industry stemmed from his understanding of history and his desire to revive an awareness of the music form that had the greatest impact on contemporary rock music……The Blues.

Mike and his brother Richard started a label called, Blue Horizon to find and record legendary blues artists from an earlier time. Some they found were… Victoria Spivey, Otis Spann, Buhhka White and Chapion Jack Dupree. That’s where we come in.

Mike was making a record with Champion Jack at the Decca Studios in London and  Seymour happened to be there. Jack had been promised $200 for the session and wanted to be paid before recording but Mike didn’t have the cash. Seymour volunteered to pay it and that began our relationship with Mike Vernon.

It led to Sire buying half of Blue Horizon and helping the label become a leader in bringing renewed attention to the blues and developing hits with Fleetwood Mac, Chicken Shack and the solo hit by Christine Perfect, “I’d Rather Go Blind,” originally recorded by Etta James on Chess.

Another interesting memory is when Seymour and I received our revenue share from the success of “Albatross.” We bought a small Brownstone on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, painted it blue and named it Blue Horizon House. That of course became the office of Sire Records as well. Those were great times.

Mike Vernon should be remembered and celebrated but that’s generally not how it goes once you’re gone. Seymour should also be remembered for the great things he did: not just for the music he brought to us but for his love and understanding of what came before.

Each new generation seems to live in the moment, which is good, but those who remember and understand history and value the past become the Great Producers.

Final note:  Blue Horizon still exists as part of Fat Possum Records a great contemporary label that understands history and just happens to be distributed by The Orchard.

Richard Gottehrer

(Founder), The Orchard

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From: Harvey Goldsmith

Subject: RE: Re-Donald Tarlton

Donald was a friend and colleague.

One day I arrived in my office to find a young person sitting at reception.

I went to my office and phoned reception to see who this person was.

He came into my office and gave me a note:

Dear Harvey,

This is Norman please look after him.

Donald.

Norman was Norman Perry

He lived in my house for 6 months and I taught everything about the business.

His brother in-law Riley O Connor arrived and duly did the same.

When their visas were up, I went to Donald and Michael Cohl and told them to set up Norman/Riley in Vancouver as they did not have a presence in that city.

Riley continues to be a great Canadian Promoter.

Norman does merchandising after helping to buy my merchandising company Brockum for Michael.

A fun golfer, a raconteur, but most importantly a brilliant promoter with the best sense of humour.

They do not make them like that anymore .He will be sorely missed.

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From: Stephen Budd

Subject: Re: Mike Vernon

Hi Bob,

I just wanted to drop you a note after reading your beautiful piece about Mike Vernon. I’ve copied Mike’s two daughters here in case they haven’t seen your piece, I’m sure they’ll really appreciate it.

I had the privilege of managing Mike as a record producer for over 15 years in his later career, after being introduced to him by Gus Dudgeon, who was Mike’s engineer in those early Decca Studios days before going on to an extraordinary career himself.

Mike really was an extraordinary music man.

His love of the blues, his knack for drawing out such special performances, and his ability to blend those British blues savants with psychedelic-tinged rock — along with the huge respect he commanded from the musicians he worked with, will stay with people for a long time.

As a kid, I remember buying Hocus Pocus as a 7”, it was thrilling then, and still is now. Mike also played in (with Pete Wingfield) and produced the UK funk band Olympic Runners, another act I loved as a teen, who had a hit with the theme from The Bitch and several others on both sides of the pond, rare for those days.

As Mike once said: “Barry Hammond, the engineer, would always keep a 2-track quarter-inch tape running to catch us jamming between takes,  then we’d use that as the basis for the next track. It was painless; we made album after album that way. It only took a couple of weeks out of the year, and we were selling records. For the first few years the band were completely anonymous, people assumed we were a US act…”

On a personal level, he was also one of the easiest clients I’ve ever had, always charming, slightly bashful but fun, thoughtful, and incredibly generous with his time and connections. Only recently he called me about Martha Velez, whom he had worked with back in the 70s, as she needed a bit of guidance.

Veléz released her debut on the Sire/Blue Horizon label in 1969. The backing musicians included Eric Clapton, Stan Webb (Chicken Shack), and Paul Kossoff (Free) on guitar; Christine McVie (Fleetwood Mac) on keyboards; Jack Bruce on bass; Mitch Mitchell (The Jimi Hendrix Experience) on drums; and Brian Auger on organ, a line-up that speaks as much to Mike’s pulling power as a producer as it does to Martha’s extraordinary voice.

That was very Mike, always looking out for people.

He was endlessly enthusiastic about new artists too, particularly those coming from the blues, though as you rightly say, his work reached far beyond that.

I was also good friends with Seymour, who used to tell me great stories about those early Blue Horizon days with Mike and Richard, and his sharp focus on what was happening across the UK scene at the time.

I’ll leave you with the wonderful Bloodstone in The Midnight Special who Mike also found and produced..

Regards

Stephen Budd

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From: Phil Ernst

Subject: Nick Lowe

Back in 1983 (? it was a long time ago), I was a newly promoted agent at boutique agency ATI struggling with the demands of booking club shows across my sprawling territory (basically every state east of the Mississippi) with more senior agents impatiently and stridently demanding dates for their baby bands at a pace I was failing miserably to keep up with at a time when the then vibrant club circuit was a viable first step for many artists to launch their careers. We had a fantastic roster of acts I loved and a great team of agents I admired and feared equally but the pace was brutal and I lived an ever increasing spiral of fear (of failure, of not getting the right deals for the acts, of getting screamed at – yet again – by one of my more senior colleagues, on and on). One busy day when I was seriously considering packing it in for a more uh sedate way of making a living (like at the insurance company I’d spent a quiet 10 months at during a gap year I’d had between high school and college), the intercom on my desk spat out the dulcet tones of one of my then biggest tormentors, Marsha Vlasic, demanding I come to her office IMMEDIATELY!!! With the sick feeling in my stomach I’d come to know so well churning to life, I got out from behind my desk and made my way down to her office, fearing another verbal beat down. When I got there I saw she wasn’t alone and was amazed and excited when her guest got up, extended his hand, and said with a smile “Hello, Phil. I’m Nick Lowe”. He went on to tell me that having just concluded his club tour he’d insisted to Marsha that he needed to meet me to THANK ME (!!!) for the hard work I’d done on the shows I’d booked for him and the care I’d exhibited in making sure the venues were appropriate, ticket prices correct, and a great experience was going to be had for Nick and his stellar band (had just seen them at The Ritz and they were fantastic!) every night of the tour. I left Marsha’s office with a new sense of purpose and a belief that maybe I actually COULD do the work after all – Nick Lowe’s kind words and thoughtfulness helped propel me to an amazing 40 year career across many facets of the live touring business. Your story about Nick brilliantly captured many of the elements that made him an important figure back in those days; just wanted to add a bit about him as a caring person. And how about Marsha? A dynamic agent then and still one today and a person I admire and respect for her fierce dedication to her artists and relevance across decades – no easy accomplishment.

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From: Paul Flattery

Subject: Re: Switchboard Susan

Re: Nick Lowe.

Back in the 70s, I was part of the then-fledgling music video scene in England – we called them “pop promos.” We didn’t have a lot of production money in those days and did a lot of “cheap and cheerfuls” where we rented a studio already equipped with lights and (video)  cameras. We rented them for three hours – 2 hours to “set and light” the artist/band, and then one hour to shoot. Editing (on 2″ tape back then) was really expensive, so usually we shot it so that the artist walked away with a finished video of the song. One such video was “Little Hitler” for Nick Lowe. We had done Elvis Costello’s “Pump It Up” and “Chelsea” for manager Jake Rivieria and Radar Records, and he asked us to do Nick’s follow-up to “I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass.” It was a very simple, inconsequential shoot, notable only for the fact that when Nick showed up he thought we were shooting a different song – the title of which escapes me. He was bemused but nonchalantly went through the song a few times on camera. It wasn’t a hit and I haven’t managed to find the video on the vast internet yet.

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From: Marty Walsh

Subject: Re: Summer Breeze

Hi Bob so glad to see this newsletter. Seals and Crofts got my career started. I got the road gig in 76 and continuing through 77. Getting that gig said something about your skill set. It gave us musicians who got that gig credibility. I owe Jimmy and Dash a lot. My first A list sessions were an their records. Summer kBreeze? You are right, just a wonderful song and certainly timeless.

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From: Donny Kutzbach

Subject: Re: Summer Breeze

Bob,

“Summer Breeze” has transcended generations the old fashioned way: licensing for use in film and TV.

Although I knew the song from hearing it on AM and oldies radio in the back seat of my parents’ cars during the 70s and 80s, it became especially meaningful to me with its use near the end of Linklater’s “Dazed and Confused.” My wife and our Gen Z  kids have repeatedly watched the 2015 remake of Vacation and it’s part of a pretty fun bit with Chris Hemsworth.

It was (oddly) in last year’s Tron: Aries which I did not see coming. It has been used perfectly in Freaks and Geeks, Better Call Saul and a few other significant TV series.

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Subject: Re: The Rules

Right on, Bob.  My son is a first year law student at a nationally recognized law school.  He shared with me that when he went to his first test, he thought something was wrong because the classroom had so many more empty seats than he was used to.

He soon found out that the rest of the class was in another room taking their exam.

Right at 40% of his law school class had received an accommodation for extended time on all tests.

Good grief.

Charles Barber

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From: Greg McLoughlin

Subject: Re: The Route To Modern Success

Good one.

For quite some time people were telling me I needed to be putting my stuff on TikTok, but I was really uncomfortable with short form.

On my YouTube show, I perform for an hour as if I am on stage and it truly feels like I am inside.

Then one week one of my followers in turkey put a short clip of my YouTube show in her social media story and I messaged her asking how she did that, and she told me she used “screen recording” on her iPHone.

Voila, the light went off in my head, and I started clipping out short clips of my livestream and putting out one TikTok Video per day, from my livestreams.

In time I realized I needed more visual variety, and somehow I easily got comfortable making regular short form videos.

I’ve stayed consistent with this approach, one video per day, and its actually going great, I’ve got a small army of supporters growing on the platform.

Plenty of hateful comments (which I see a good sign).

Anyway, yes, not ignoring the medium anymore.  In fact, its been super fun and rewarding.

And last night at an open mic in Western Jersey a young kid approached me and said, “While you were on stage I was saying to myself, where do I know that guy from, and then I was like, he’s the one who plays solo bass on TikTok!”  Said a friend sent him a video of mine after seeing me do a show in Asbury Park and he’d been following me since.

Yes, a million micro-steps, no one big moment.  But I feel it.

LIFER.  Gregory McLoughlin

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From: Andre’ Cholmondeley

Subject: Re: Prairie Prince-This Week’s Podcast

Fantastic this will be a good one

my good buddy prairie

I toured a lot with Todd last year so I had the pleasure of many fun hangs with PP. What a legend. And a wonderful human being. I’m sure you talked a bunch about him drumming on XTC‘s biggest album skylarking but also on about four other XTC albums/EPs. And of course you know all about his excellent new Colours album

Fun facts maybe you covered:

He’s an old friend of Al Kooper, who of course produced the first Tubes album

The Tubes went to Japan on a ship (!!) around 1971 and were there for a couple months playing every day at the world‘s fair. I mean you can’t make this sh*t up.

Prairie was the first DRUMMER in Journey. I’m sure you talked about that.

He has a great band called THE MISTAKES with Mike Keneally, Henry Kaiser and Andy West, formerly of the Dixie Dregs

He plays on the legendary “my life in the bush of ghosts” by Brian Eno and David Byrne

Besides being a brilliant visual artist and set designer, who’s done stuff for Bette Midler,  Vegas shows etc.

Thank you

Andre´Cholmondeley

Tech. Production. Tour Support 

Pat Metheny World Tour 2025

Todd Rundgren US/EU Tour 2025

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From: Hugo Burnham

Subject: Re: The Billy Idol Movie

I loved Generation X. Saw them a bunch of times back in the day. Then a few years later, I hooked up with Derwood – first as a drummer with a band that went nowhere, then as the first manager for Westworld. He’s a songwriting genius…wrote ‘Dancing With Myself’…never got the credit. We’re still friends after all these years- he sat in with G4 at Pappy And Harriet’s last summer (he lives out there)….a great moment for us both.

But Billy did his thing so well….hooking up with Stevens was a stroke of genius….whoever put that together.

We’re still alive. Beating the odds, Baby!

H

xx

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Subject: Re: Ticketmaster/Harry Styles/Scalpers

Thanks, Bob. As usual, lots of info that many I know refuse to acknowledge. Give me TM any day of the week. The site works. Yes, there will always be outliers and issues, and they’ve deployed plenty of sharp elbows over the years (especially when they were private), but overall, they’re fine now. Oh no, a judge has decided I’ve been overcharged a whopping $1.72/ticket. I know something was standing between me and a down payment on a house….

Anyway, wanna talk about AXS/AEG, the conglomerate that arguably stands to gain the most from a TM/LN breakup? I’ve been tracking the cost of my tickets for years, fees included. In general, AXS fees are higher, not to mention they’ve played along with some venues that seem to be scamming customers. In 2022, I bought a ticket for a show at Minneapolis’s famed First Avenue. AXS insisted on adding a $3 “green fee” to the charge because I asked for a physical ticket, on top of the $10 shipping fee to have the ticket sent via First Class mail. (That’s, what, $9 worth of cream?) Fees were almost 40% with that green fee (almost 30% without it) and 80% once you factored in shipping. Where did that green fee go? You tell me! I’ve searched high & low for any mention of this online. Nothing.

Of course, I managed to get a ticket. I’ve tried to purchase a few hot on-sales on AXS this year. AXS has become borderline unusable for such sales. On a laptop? Sometimes, it thinks I’m a bot. On a cell phone? Sometimes, it thinks I’m a bot. I have to have my laptop and cell phone with me, and the cell phone has to bounce between cell data and wifi data. Usually, one combination or another eventually works. Usually. People who whine about TM and have never used AXS are gonna be in for an extremely rude awakening if TM loses significant market share and AXS picks it up.

Oh yeah, and a couple of years ago, SeeTickets/Eventim had two Jack White club shows in Texas go on sale at the same time, around 2 PM on a weekday. The site completely sh*t the bed. I lucked out and somehow managed to get a ticket to my preferred show after 30 minutes of non-stop web site failures, including tickets disappearing from my basket. That’s just two club shows! Am I supposed to believe Eventim can handle the next pop tart’s stadium mega-tour? They can’t even handle a couple of hot club shows!

So, yeah, careful what you wish for. You might just get it.

Douglas Roark

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From: Paul Lohr

Subject: RE: I Love You

Oh man Bob… this made my day.  I am a REALLY big fan of Climax Blues Band!  Whilst living and going to high school in Southeast Pennsylvania, and on summer break, I went to see Uriah Heep in concert at The Spectrum in Philly in August of 1974.  I had never heard of them, but Climax Blues Band was the opening act (and Manfred Mann’s Earth Band was the middle act.)  I was blown away, and went out and bought the double album FM/Live shortly thereafter, from Wonderland Records in Newark Delaware, the go-to vinyl/headshop in the Tri-State area… you know, rows and rows of albums, black light Alice in Wonderland and Jimi Hendrix posters on the wall, and the usual array of bongs and rolling papers in the glass-and-aluminum display cases.  I was probably wearing my David Bowie Diamond Dogs T-shirt that day!  In short order I became a fan of Peter Haycock and his slide guitar playing, and was happy and validated to read of Bonnie Raitt singing his praises. I loved his instrumental “Country Hat” and spent hours in my bedroom wearing out the grooves on the album trying to learn that song!  I think WMMR in Philly was playing selections from other albums, and after pretty much memorizing FM/Live, I eagerly awaited the release of Stamp Album, as it has the studio version of “I Am Constant” on it.  Albums cost about three bucks back then.  I went down the rabbit hole and started looking for their import albums from England, and learned that they were originally known as The Climax Chicago Blues Band, but dropped “Chicago” around 1970.  I quickly got caught up on all the back catalog releases and bought each new album for a while.  1976’s Gold Plated is perhaps my favorite album of theirs, as it has that funky vibe to it which really resonates with me.  The cover also featured an image of Haycock playing his custom gold plated Veleno guitar, which I still think is a bad-ass axe!  And despite the band having a “Top 40” hit from that album (which can often tarnish a band’s image in the eyes of teenage hipsters,) I continued to turn friends on to them, and bought their subsequent albums until about 1979. (My college years were 1976 – 1980, and that’s when I became a Deadhead, and a “taper” and cassette trader, and was fortunate enough to have befriended taper Joani Walker; so I went down another rabbit hole for a while and didn’t buy a lot of vinyl then, as I was devouring hours and hours of “Joani Boards.”)

“I Love You” is indeed a lovely song, but I preferred the bite and swagger and groove and rock of their more upbeat songs… “Hey Mama” from the “Tightly Knit” album, for example, would often be included in my mix tapes… that bad-ass guitar intro just jumps right out of the speakers and grabs you like an electric fence!  Real to Reel was their last album that I bought, so I only new of “I Love You” from the radio.  And I soon enjoyed the convenience of CDs, despite their lack of warmth, but I didn’t own any Climax Blues Band CDs, and then my vinyl collection got ruined in a flooded basement…  And then along came Spotify, where you can go back down Memory Lane any time that you want.  And I wanted to listen to Gold Plated.  And then FM/Live.  And then Sense of Direction.  And everything else CBB.

I didn’t learn of Haycock’s death until a while after the fact.  Something compelled me to do a search… maybe looking to see if they were going on tour… and I distinctly remember exclaiming out loud “Oh No!”  And my wife saying “What’s wrong??”  And me replying “Peter Haycock is dead!”  And Mary saying “Who is Peter Haycock?!”   Sigh… He died from a heart attack in October of 2013 at the much-too-young age of 62.  Pete’s gone, my vinyl collection is gone, but the music is still “Rollin’ Home.”

 

Sincerely,

Paul

Paul Lohr, Owner/Agent

New Frontier Touring

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From: Simon Napier-Bell

Subject: Re: Mike Vernon

Bob – re the Yardbirds. “Over Under Sideways Down” was written by the group and the guitar lick was played by Jeff Beck. It was the lead track from the group’s only studio album Roger the Engineer. Jimmy Page didn’t join the group till later – the first Yardbirds record he played on – together with Jeff – was “Happenings Ten Years Ago”. They also both played on the track featured in Blow-Up. 

Best 

SIMON

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From: Terry Flood

Subject: Donald K Donald

Hi Bob

After reading the replies to your Donald K Donald Tribute as well as the many others from posts and Entertainment outlets I realized that very few people knew about the early years leading up to Donald success.

I think that many of your readers will find it quite interesting how he turned his love of music into a successful world wide career

He did it little investment but with his bigger than life personality,his love of music,,his determination to be successful, and most of all his business genius .

Donald was born to become a major player in the entertainment business

His love of music, his natural ability to get along with anyone, his salesmanship, his love of the spotlight and the microphone and most of all his genius for the business.

As a teenager he took over his best friend’s record hop as a DJ Shortly after he had a weekly radio show where he played the hits of the day. That lasted until the Beatles released their first single “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”

Donald liked the song so much he played it 14 times in a row which ended his radio DJ career.

Donald started booking local bands mostly into high schools

This is where I came into the picture. In 1967 I had started a teenage discotheque. Donald came by to sell me on booking

bands in addition to just playing RnB records. No one can say no to a Donald sales pitch so we now had bands at Snoopy’s discotheque which led to him offering to be a partner in the business. Luckily I agreed to what would become the best business decision I would ever make. I was now in for the ride of my life with Donald K Donald

The next move for Donald was to become a promoter so we put a little money into booking a couple of up and coming British groups into small venues. Then Donald received the break he needed to get into the big time The main promoter for major acts that would fill  the Montreal Forum was Sam Gesser who was used to booking act like Frank Sinatra, etc.However with Rock becoming big business Sam was now promoting acts like Janus Joplin. Donald would often help Sam with the shows and was with him at the side of the stage for her Forum show. During the show Janus came to the side where Donald and Sam were and proceeded to throw up splattering Sam’s nice suit and shoes.

Sam turned to Donald and said

“This rock business is not for me please take it over.”

This was all Donald had to hear.

However we didn’t have the kind of money necessary for the big time promoting business.

But this was not going to stop Donald

He came up with a genius plan. He would approach the three Molson brothers who owned the Forum and the Canadians and sell them on his plan. Donald would perform the duties of a promoter but instead of just paying a fee for the facility he would partner with the Forum on the show’s profits. The Forum would pay the artist advance and put the advertising on their account. After the show settlement the profits would be split 50/50. This brilliant arrangement along with his genius, his salesmanship, his ability to relate to the artist, their management, the agents, and his devoted staff propelled him to the top of the world wide music business .

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From: Lawrence Gowan

Re: Donald Tarlton

In 1999 when Styx decided to look for a new lead singer a number of people suggested a guy named Gowan who we were not familiar with so of course I called the Master of Canada and friend of mine and Tommy and JY the one and only Donald K Donald. I asked who this Gowan guy was and he said that Gowan was the artist he had put on our sold out arena show in  Montreal. We all remembered adding a solo piano player to the bill and also thinking how will that work to 15,000 rock fans. But we trusted Donald explicitly and of course it worked. Donald told me at the time that he always thought Lawrence should be in a band like Styx and he was right. He just knew what worked and how to connect the dots. The World of Donald K Donald was a wonderful place to be a part of. 

Donald K. Donald had an amazing gift of foresight. To categorize him simply as a “promoter” would be a terrible understatement. Donald was a master at connecting with people and boosting their careers overnight. We met in 1985. “Larger than life” in every aspect, I remember his big wide grin as he popped champagne corks after a successful show. Donald K significantly helped to catapult the close relationship I’ve enjoyed with the Quebecois audience since the 1980’s. 

Therefore, true to form, in the late 1990’s DKD was the first in a series of dominoes that lead to my joining Styx. 

After 12 years of promoting the Gowan shows, one morning in 1997 he called me with a suggestion: “Instead of playing the venue you’re booked for in June, I’d like you to open for Styx at the new Montréal Forum.” (now known as the Bell Centre) My ego spoke first as I declined, sighting the fact that I was touring entirely solo-piano at the time and also hadn’t “opened” for anyone in Canada since early 1985. He kindly reminded me that the last act he’d had me open for (Supertramp) at the old Forum, lead to my headlining at that venue by the end of ‘85. He said, “Now you’ve got to play the new building” and added, “This will be good for you”. Time and again he showed an uncanny knack for being right.

Merci pour tout, tellement beaucoup, DKD! 

Gowan

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From: oko shio

Subject: Re: Re-Donald Tarlton

Hi Bob,

Thanks for this and always being around. I am/was Donald’s CFO for all these years. Just an FYI that we have change his www.dkd.com site so people can add their tributes there and family will see them then share with the world.

Again, thanks for these memories.

Those were the days!

Thank you!

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From: Paul Brammer

Subject: Re: Bettye LaVette-This Week’s Podcast

Ive listened to every episode and this one was maybe the best of the best.

And the best part is the last 26 minutes, the after interview conversation.

I love when guests don’t let you sign off so quickly.

Keep up the good work! Mazel!

Paul

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From: John Branca

Bob thank you for your column on Michael. Your views are well taken and important. One thing you left out. No one has ever had any evidence that Michael did anything inappropriate, only the allegations of people seeking money. Leaving Neverland was not a documentary, it was a well acted, well choreographed fictional hit piece that has objectively verifiable falsehoods stated by the accusers. And the director Dan Reed never bothered to talk to anybody else because he did not want the truth he wanted his 15 minutes. Unlike Harvey Weinstein or Robert Kelly or many others, there were not dozens of accusers and there are no videos or documentary evidence. Those of us who knew Michael know he was incapable of committing the acts these people accuse him of. The laws of defamation do not protect the deceased, and the current accusers defended him throughout his lifetime, they only changed the story when it was safe to do so in an attempt to collect money.

I thought I’d top off my tank at Costco.

Now what you’ve got to know about gasoline is you must buy Top Tier, which Costco gas is. Gas is gas is gas, only it’s not. You may be saving pennies at your off-brand locale, but there’s a good chance you’ll pay for it in the long run. You can do the research, but not only is Top Tier gas guaranteed to meet the octane rating, it  has many more detergent additives, which give you a cleaner engine, preventing harm not only to your mill, but your exhaust system, never mind eliminating performance issues like rough idling and acceleration hesitation that are caused by deposits on intake valves and fuel injectors. 

You can find out if your local station sells Top Tier fuel here: https://www.toptiergas.com/gasoline-brands/

Scared yet?

Probably not. Because price is king in America.

Only this has been proven untrue in the airline space, which is one of the reasons Spirit tanked, twice. Turns out people want more than just a guaranteed seat, they want to be able to pick where they sit and not have to be nickel and dimed for everything from beverages to carry-on luggage. Just like the U.S. has seen a huge uplift in the quality of its food, just look at the offerings at the stadium or the arena, people are willing to pay for a modicum of comfort. Then again, the traditional airlines ate Spirit’s lunch by offering these same basic fares, that sometimes don’t even come with mileage awards. However, now buying an airline ticket is akin to running a gauntlet. There can be five flavors of economy. Yet, I am truly irked by the rise in baggage fees. The end result is people will drag everything on the plane to avoid paying a few extra dollars. Sure, you don’t have to wait to claim your bag at the carousel, but isn’t the airline experience chaotic enough?

Not that people don’t like to save money. I do too. But I’ve got to tell you, I no longer know the value of a dollar, there’s been that much inflation. A hamburger with the trimmings can cost twenty bucks at a fast food outlet. I just walk around with my wallet open and allow companies to pick what they want.

Actually, I never pay cash. I’ve got the same hundred dollar bills in my wallet that have been there since 2024. Even valet parking now takes cards. Then again, I went to buy bagels at Western Bagel, right by the factory, I had to walk around a tanker to get in the front door, what exactly was in it was unclear, but they need this stuff to make their bagels which are absolutely substandard. And they only took cash. Everybody’s looking to avoid paying taxes. Just if this is the path you take, you’ve got to know not to leave a paper trail, absolutely do not put the money in the bank.

Now I’m not looking to save money at the gas pump. I don’t want to get ripped-off, but I’m willing to pay extra for convenience. Then again, my tank is not that big. How many gallons do I buy at a time? Usually ten. And that’s premium, my car requires it. And to tell you the truth, it gets terrible mileage, but it’s paid for… And another advantage of having an old car is all the attendant costs are lower, like registration and insurance.

Generally speaking, I buy gas by location, where I am. It makes no sense to drive ten miles to save a dime because not only is your time eaten up, but so is the gas.

As for the price of gas…

Yes, it’s higher in California than in any other state in the continental U.S. Mostly it’s got to do with the formulation, to avoid pollution. Which was drastic back in the fifties and sixties. The L.A. “Times” just did a series on how bad it was, but no one I know gets the paper anymore, so it’s like it doesn’t even exist. The paper also said how many months of your life you were sacrificing as a result of air pollution. If you live east of L.A., out by San Bernardino way, it might make you want to move.

Then again, we keep hearing it’s a myth. But the pollution in L.A. can be seen. I couldn’t see the Hollywood hills from the 10 freeway back in the seventies, that’s a rare event today.

And did you see that King Charles talked about the melting ice caps?

In a world where electric wind companies are being paid not to build and the Chinese are about to eat our lunch in the automotive sphere…

But I’m not going to get into it with you. I’ve started to detach. Political reporting is now akin to sports. Everybody’s got their team and when it comes to the standings, the elections…

We’ve got gerrymandering, voter suppression.

And I live in the hellhole known as California.

That’s another thing the L.A. “Times” reported on, residents’ dissatisfaction with the state. But the truth is people were not downbeat until the political/press campaign to point out California’s flaws. Believe what you want, but there’s nowhere I’d rather live. You may have a lower tax bill if you live in Florida, or Texas, but you’ve got to live there to get the benefit, and that’ s not for me. Imagine heat without humidity. That’s California. Never mind the outside lifestyle without the focus on where you went to college and who your parents are…

So I was never going to buy Costco gas, if for no other reason than I refused to wait for it. But my local Costco revamped its entire filling station, added numerous pumps, and when I went to the outlet back in January, there was NO LINE!

Now one thing you’ve got to know is Costco only takes Visa. But I’ve been unable to get their credit card, despite having a credit score of over 800. You can’t beat the algorithm, the formula that determines whether you’re worthy of a card.

But I do have a Visa ATM car, but I sacrifice the rebate, which is actually 5% on gas. I didn’t know it was that high. But what is your time worth?

So I’m coming from an eye appointment, figuring I’ll buy some gallons while I’m there, and what I see is a bumper to bumper parking lot akin to one at a rock concert. I truly believed that the gasoline pumps were closed. Because there were lineups of endless cars in each lane, and none of these lanes were moving.

I’m not going to wait to save six bucks.

Oh yeah… If you want to buy Top Tier premium gas in Los Angeles, you’re paying over six bucks, closer to seven.

And when I was through shopping, I went over to look at the pump, that’s the only place you can find the price. And a gallon of premium was $5.99.

Okay, I just paid $6.59 at the Mobil station on Sepulveda. I’ve actually paid $6.79 further down Sepulveda, on the other side of the hill.

But one thing I will tell you, the more you pay, the better the squeegee, and the towels (which they don’t even have at Costco). Cheaper stations’ squeegees are better at creating streaks as opposed to cleaning. And if they have paper at all… It ain’t too absorbent.

So, I bought the aforementioned ten gallons.

Now if I’d filled up at Costco, I would have saved six bucks.

Now if you asked me just a year or two ago, I’d say six bucks was a lot. But now you may throw food away that costs more. I still have trouble with this, but saving pennies is a full time job.

And for some it’s sport. You’d be surprised how many wealthy people will blow time to save a minimal number of bucks.

Now it’s one thing to be extravagant, but it’s quite another to nickel and dime. Actually, when you nickel and dime you don’t know how bad you look. Split the bill evenly, even if they had alcohol and you did not, it all comes out in the wash, and no one likes a cheapskate.

Then again, there are people without enough money. I’ve been there, I have sympathy. And even I’m astounded at the prices at the grocery store.

But it’s the same Costco with the same number of pumps there were in January when there was no line. What is going on?

The war in Iran, the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz. Gas prices are stratospheric.

Now I lived through the gas shortages of ’73 and ’79. Each time there was a rush to smaller, more fuel efficient automobiles. But people have short memories. So they buy these SUVs and trucks that get poor mileage and then literally pay the price in a gas crisis like this. It’s not easy to have sympathy for these people. Do you really need such a large vehicle? And did you really believe that gas prices are not volatile?

But no one in America plans for the future. Of course that’s an overstatement, but we constantly read how most people have almost no savings.

So who are they going to turn to?

Well, at first themselves. They need to make better choices.

But if they’re looking for the government to save them… It’s the flip side of what Reagan campaigned on. The public wants the government to help. Needless to say, Trump caused this problem. But his acolytes have drunk the kool-aid, they just parrot what he says. As for the other side, they’re worthless. And the media tells us to wait for the elections… Yeah, right. If you believe there’s going to be a free and fair election for president in 2026…

I’m tuning out. The press has been going on for days about Saturday night’s gunman. But no one died, security worked. But wouldn’t this engender a discussion of gun control? Not in America! Where  mass shootings are de rigueur, they might get coverage the day they occur, but then everybody moves on, if they paid attention in the first place.

There’s so much b.s. going on, a lot of it irrelevant, a lot of it not. It’s a full time job keeping up, but you ultimately realize this isn’t about informing you, but making money. Bloviators on cable news, never mind the slanting of mass communication as a result of consolidation and Trump. If Comey, who is an idiot for his sea shell statement, can be prosecuted, what are the odds you’re going to cross the line, even come close to it?

You’re just trying to pay your bills. Hoping you don’t lose your job to AI, even though that’s just a cover for downsizing.

Which is why so many are lining up for gas at Costco.

I guess.

Nature abhors a vacuum.

You cannot compete with TikTok and Instagram when it comes to social media. And you cannot compete with Apple and Android when it comes to smartphones. However, you can compete with the three major labels very easily. The tools of production and the avenues of distribution are in the hands of the proletariat. It costs nearly nothing to play, however that does not mean you’ll win.

Separating the wheat from the chaff is the question facing recorded music today, and so far no one has come up with a solution. Radio has diminished power, even DSP playlisting cannot push a record over the top. So what we wait for is spontaneous combustion, someone outside the conventional framework, an independent who surfaces via an unpredictable amalgamation of social media and word of mouth and…who knows what else.

But despite their front line, new music business being encroached upon by independent acts, no independent label can truly compete with the majors because they lack a catalog, guaranteed income at almost no cost that keeps the lights on.

Used to be the majors had a lock on distribution, that was their power. An independent might be able to get a record in the store, but good luck getting paid. Only those with a continuous flow of product could count on their accounts ponying up, at least until the outlets went bankrupt.

But now the majors don’t have a big stick, they can’t insist you go through them to succeed. However, as a result of their catalogs, the majors write the rules, i.e. what DSPs pay, never mind licensing all over the internet.

And the truth is licensing income keeps increasing. Seemingly every new platform needs music to run, and ultimately they make a deal with the rights holders. Which is why when Wall Street talks about a potential slowdown in the growth of Spotify, et al, it’s being myopic. Music has never had more uses, all of which pay, they keep on inventing new ones. (Which is another argument against selling your publishing rights/royalty streams.)

Now the death of the major labels has been predicted since the advent of Napster, and it has never arrived. But consolidation happened. In a world where there are unlimited new assets. When there’s consolidation in conventional spheres, there are a limited number of assets to be purchased, but not in music.

And that’s just new music. When it comes to old…

Classic rock acts are reaching the end of their lives and they want to cash in and are selling to…

Well, the majors could have bought everything. Let’s be clear, the majors have woken up to the power of independent acts, and have tried to gobble up this sphere of distribution, i.e. Universal’s purchase of Downtown, but what is the value of publishing rights? And how much do you pay? Yes, Universal might have kicked off the furor with its purchase of Bob Dylan’s catalog, but the truth is most sales have been to new indies. And two giants have emerged, Primary Wave and Concord. They both have assembled cream of the crop publishing rights. They paid a high price, but the value will keep going up.

So, the majors let the indies in on publishing. But the majors also ensured that when it comes to streaming, publishers got screwed, their piece of the pie is small.

So…

Now we’ve got a fourth major, based primarily on the acquisition of rights, all those songs and recordings that Concord bought. Concord slowly built up a monolith, in plain sight. As for new music… It has been eclipsed by the nascent, nimble BMG. So you put them together and…

Voila! You’ve got a fourth major. A fourth seat at the table when it comes to setting prices. A fourth place a new act can go to sell its wares.

But the dirty little secret is new music is a crapshoot. No one can break an act. What we’re really looking for is quality new music production, a wider variety of acts getting an investment and a push, not having to do it all by their lonesome.

But all the money is in catalog.

So…

It’s good to have a fourth major. It adds competition.

But the problem of new music remains. Is the chaos of today going to continue?

Well, the era of universal hits known by everybody looks like it will never return.

And the public is overwhelmed with choice, to the point many don’t pay attention at all.

Then again, do you like the offerings? For all the BTS mania, you can get tickets very cheaply for their shows now. Demand is limited.

Demand is limited for all, but never has what is considered major been so minor, never has the major stuff been unpalatable to so many.

The film companies have addressed this by making films in ever fewer genres and the end result is that Netflix has eaten their lunch. Netflix bought distribution rights in plain sight, just like Primary Wave and Concord bought rights in plain sight. But Netflix ultimately invested a ton of money in new production, and with first mover advantage won the subscriber wars. Netflix with a lot of new stuff wins, the also-rans with little lose.

But we have no big kahuna in music with a plethora of new music gaining our attention. This isn’t like the heyday of Asylum Records, when you could buy an LP based on the label. And Netflix is a different business model, it’s a walled garden of distribution, whereas in music everything is available on the DSPs.

But the real story is no indie can survive long term because it has no catalog to continue to generate high margin revenue.

But the new BMG/Concord does have a catalog.

But will it invest in new music, break the logjam of endless mediocrity?

That is what we want.

We will wait to see if this new entity delivers.

1

He’s dead.

The media has been positively shocked that a film with uniformly negative reviews is doing so well at the box office. After all, isn’t Michael Jackson a child molester in a zero tolerance era?

Look at Cesar Chavez, he was scrubbed from modern life within a week. Whereas with Michael Jackson new molestation cases continue to surface over fifteen years since his death.

But Cesar Chavez never made music.

And music touches people in a way that conventional work and politics do not. That’s the power of art.

Michael Jackson is the new Marilyn Monroe. However with far superior talent and creative track record. Marilyn was never taken seriously as an actress until “The Misfits.” Sure, her scene in “The Seven Year Itch” became iconic in a prudish era, but it didn’t require much in the way of acting.

But Monroe was troubled. With multiple marriages that did not seem to square, like with Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley and his dermatologist’s assistant, Debbie Rowe.

And both employed plastic surgery to alter their appearance.

And both were notoriously exotic and troubled, people that were human, but that we couldn’t quite relate to, they were iconic.

I mean Marilyn Monroe was a presence, but she didn’t become a legend until she passed prematurely, of an overdose, before the drug scourge hit the middle class suburbs. Jackson died too soon too, and his death was so bizarre…getting propofol to sleep?

So what exactly was the story with these two people.

It’s not exactly clear.

And since they’re gone, we can’t talk to them, we can’t excavate the truth, we’re left with questions.

Michael Jackson and Marilyn Monroe are both heroes and enigmas. Troubled icons. Illustrations of the perils of fame. They had everything we thought we wanted, but it wasn’t enough, it didn’t work out for them.

But somehow the press completely missed all this. Journalists just can’t understand how the public can be flocking to see this film.

But people want to get closer, they want to invest their own hopes and dreams in Michael Jackson. Most weren’t even born when “I Want You Back” penetrated the airwaves. And those who were were laughing when he sang an ode to a rat, the title song of the film “Ben.” And no one expected him to make a major musical statement with “Off the Wall.”

And “Off the Wall” was just the set-up, for the victory lap, i.e. “Thriller.” With “Off the Wall” Jackson had something to prove, he wanted to be taken seriously. With “Thriller,” he needed to cement his spot at the apex of the popular music world. And the rest of his life was about trying to stay at this level, continue to have hits, be the “King of Pop,” when no one has continued to have this level of success over decades, everybody’s career flattens out, fades.

And the bizarre personal life, with a kid he hung over a hotel balcony who ultimately was referred to as “Blanket.” It wasn’t that Jackson was sticking his finger into the eye of protocol like the outrageous performers who preceded him, rather he appeared completely out of touch, like he didn’t know what the rules were. And with his changing personal appearance, he was perceived to be a freak.

And then he died.

And you’re telling me people shouldn’t be interested in his life?

2

There’s nobody close to Michael Jackson today, no one with worldwide appeal whose work is known by seemingly everybody. That paradigm is dead.

“Thriller” on MTV was an event, and today what is billed as an event evaporates within twenty four hours, if it had any traction at all.

How did this all happen?

And can it be replicated?

So you’ve got fans who want to revel in the music, leave this chaotic world behind. And then there are attendees who want to know more of the story… Oldster journalists may know every detail, but the average person does not. And then there are those who go to be inspired…maybe they can pick up some tips on how to make it themselves.

Kind of like Freddie Mercury, he was dead too when the Queen biopic triumphed. A guy who was out in a world that couldn’t fathom it, after all, the band was named “Queen.” And then he died of AIDS. And he composed “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which broke all the rules. Michael Jackson had a number of those tracks.

Hollywood misread the success of the film “Bohemian Rhapsody,” they saw it as a new lane, believed the public was hungry for musical biopics, the stories of legends.

But the Elton biopic did only a fraction of Queen’s.

And Springsteen’s was a veritable stiff.

But they’re both here, alive. And neither embodies the controversy, the weirdness of Michael Jackson, or even Freddie Mercury.

3

So what we’ve got here is a guy who was the front person for a number of hit records in a number of eras. His music evolved, even if it was questionable whether he himself did.

Of course there’s the domineering father, the pill addiction after the Pepsi fire.

But… Have you ever listened to “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough”? Unlike today’s music, it isn’t built to hook you right away, so you don’t switch to another track. Sure, the bass is inviting. And then fifteen seconds in, there’s swirling strings more akin to “The Wizard of Oz” than popular music. But then comes an ethereal vocal…

“Keep on, with the force, don’t stop

Don’t stop ’til you get enough”

When done right music is a release, it sets your mind, and in this case your body, free. It detaches you from everyday life, your troubles, your disappointments, it inspires you. “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” was released in an era where rock was competing with disco yet it somehow seemed to transcend both of these genres and appeal to everyone. And it still does!

And the 1983 Motown special… He invented his own dance step, people were mesmerized by the moonwalk, it was akin to a magic trick.

And “Off the Wall” was not followed up by a formulaic repeat. The ethereal “Billie Jean” lifted the listener into the land of fantasy, hopes and dreams. And the “Thriller” video was a mini-movie, on a whole ‘nother level from what came before.

And then Jackson lost the plot. He kept descending for a number of years, becoming a caricature of himself, trying desperately to hold on to his fame, to the point where he ultimately no longer made new music or performed live, he became a feature in the tabloids as opposed to the music magazines.

Who wouldn’t be interested all that?

3

Michael Jackson the myth has eclipsed Michael Jackson the man. The public owns his image now, society is in control of the music and the legend. People know about the bad behavior, but they don’t care! Because they’re employing selective vision. They’re not writing an obituary, rather they focus on the arc they want. And it’s going to go on forever. Come on, come up with another star with even one third of the same bizarre lifelong arc? Michael is sui generis, and there will never be another one of him, people need to get closer.

4

But if the press is wrong about this, what else is it wrong about?

It couldn’t see Trump’s victory in 2016, never mind 2024.

It keeps excoriating Morgan Wallen but he is the biggest streaming act in the nation, far in excess of everybody else. But didn’t he use the “N-word”? Absolutely, at the end of a drunken night, as a term of endearment to his buddy. And if you don’t think rap/Black culture has penetrated even the most remote hamlets, you’re unaware of the fact that cable TV and the internet are everywhere. To the point where we ended up getting white rappers. Doesn’t mean that Wallen should have employed the epithet, but his fans… They’re not racist, they’re just don’t employ a zero tolerance framework when it comes to their icons, their stars. Especially when their stardom is based on music.

But this is the country we now live in. Oldsters still trying to hang on to their power, believing they still have power, they try to get the public to see the landscape through their lens, when in truth, the public isn’t even paying attention to what they say.

Cable TV news? The audience is so small and aged as to be laughable.

Comey and 86-47. It’s today’s Melania/Kimmel… A headline that is supposed to fan the flames of outrage, when we’ve seen this movie every day for years, and today’s story might not even be remembered tomorrow.

But “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” is not stopping. We still haven’t gotten enough, and it came out 47 years ago!

Even the music business itself doesn’t know what the public wants anymore. Most people don’t know and don’t care about the Spotify Top 50, which is everything to the major labels.

And live performance has eclipsed recordings anyway. And Michael Jackson is considered one of the best, if not the best performer of the  modern era.

And no one has challenged, even come close to Michael Jackson’s ionic music. We never got a new Beatles and we haven’t gotten a new Michael Jackson either.

But we’ve got bozos opining on a world they do not know. Forgetting when done right, music hits you intellectually last. It’s emotional, unlike so much dry reporting. That was the appeal of Trump to begin with, he was outrageous, he did not play by the rules. The press kept waiting for him to falter, but the public overlooked or overcame his faux pas, just like they’re now doing with Michael Jackson’s.

Jackson paid for his sins with his life. What are you doing by trying to continue to punish him. Tarnish his legacy? The public knows he’s weird, many people believe he abused young boys, and to them it makes no difference.

Or, I could say that the public is once again wiser than the gatekeepers, who have less power than ever. Sometimes the public knows it’s simple. In this case, a guy with a bizarre life who created legendary music. It’s perfectly clear.