That odd place inbetween current pop-culture and our daily life

There are two basic needs the American public has for Hollywood and other forms of popular culture; reinforcement of their own importance and escapism.  Although an argument can be made for having both needs at any given moment, the definition of "reinforcement of their own importance" relies more on the current national identity than "escapism".   A review of the current movies (Early 2009) suggests that popular culture has not yet made the change from the excesses of the past decade and into the current cycle of economic helplessness.     

In the early 1980's there was a plethora of movies and music that allowed people to see themselves as unemployed, with the possibility of a better life just beyond their reach and their control.  There was a recurring theme of the perennial down and out trying to make a comeback.  In the movies this was reflected in "All The Right Moves", "Mr. Mom", "Flashdance", and "The Verdict".  In music this was popularized by Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A.  The commonly held belief that it is a celebration of American life is wrong, rather it is an acceptance of the downward mobility of life in America.  Billy Joel's The Nylon Curtain, like Born in the U.S.A., was written for an audience older than the typical pop-song target audience and dealt with the idea that America's best days may have passed the current generation behind.  The topics on these albums are decidedly not escapist.  

Another parallel between today's culture and the early 1980's recession was that as late as 1981 there was a reluctance to acknowledge that the American soldiers returning from Vietnam may actually have problems integrating back into society.   Unlike the soldiers that served in Vietnam, Iraq and Afganistan verterans do not have the stigma that the soldiers that served in Vietnam did.  The original version of First Blood had Rambo being gunned down in the building he was holed up in (suicide by cop), instead of the final scene with his commanding officer when he expresses disillusionment with America's view of his service in Vietnam.  Rambo is finally talked down which was a more popular ending with test audiences.  January of 2009 saw the largest number of soldiers commit suicide.  

Today's current culture does not yet reflect the economic collapse of the last quarter of 2008, with the exception of Slumdog Millionaire, a story of life in slums which are not in America.  In short, literature, movies, music, and even the online culture, with few exceptions, are not yet reflecting the anxiety of the middle class in America.  (Have you created a "25" list for facebook?)  But it will, if for no other reason than the fact that Americans will spend money to see a reflection of themselves.   

Amy Winehouse, American Artists and Record Labels

Atlantic Records was the label that did not take chances with jazz or blues artists based upon potential talent, they took chances on artists with actual talent and there is a pretty big difference between the two.  

Of course when Ray Charles decided to attempt to sign a deal that allowed him to keep future recording rights he did not go to Motown because no one at Motown would have had any idea if they could make money on such a deal.  To understand the marketplace, the expected returns both short term and long term, and have the money to promote a recording artist under such a contract was more than a rag-tag bunch of hustlers could handle.  Sure, there are exceptions to the rule, but generally if you had the talent and could prove it then Atlantic Records was where you wanted to be.  Otherwise you ended up with Motown and the promise that if you worked hard enough then, golly gee, you just may have a chance to make it big.  Few did.  

Motown's formula was basic, relied on many of the same musicians for different artists, and stuck to a tried and true sound they thought would guarantee hits.  A truly innovative artist may find such an atmosphere stifling.  Which is why real talent would go to Atlantic.  Not that Atlantic put artistic creativity ahead of money, but if you had the talent the choice was simple.  Ray Charles was at Atlantic, but so was Led Zeppelin.  Not only did Atlantic make money in the blues, but also the rock and roll and heavy metal cultures that Motown could not compete.  This diversity gave Atlantic the talent pool and the money to develop new talent and therefore ensure their company could make even more money.  Well, it usually is about the money, isn't it?

Motown's glory days came during the 60's, and their reputation is still built on the major artists of that era; The Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, among many others.  Compared to Atlantic and their longer and storied history this was small potatoes.  

Today, the music industry no longer can support so many major labels due to competition and the new distribution medium introduced by the internet.  To maximize profits record labels have become good at narrowcasting their product to the consumers most likely to purchase their product.  In short, this has allowed artists to make more diverse music than ever before, and also be much better at producing the type of music they are "into".  Why should a rap artist such as Jaz-Z write music that would be broadcast on a local FM station that catered to classic rock?  Due to similar market forces in radio there really are no more FM stations that cross the cultural divide between these two mediums.  But there once were FM stations that would.  Jay-Z, for example, now has the opportunity to narrow his music to a specific market as never before therefore capturing a larger market share of that niche.  Even the vaulted New Yorker which started by boasting to potential advertisers that they did not edit their magazine for the old lady in Dubuque made the assumption that any such old lady would gladly purchase a well edited magazine.  Today's R&B artists make no such assumption about any subculture and are only producing music with narrow casting in mind.  

And rappers are hardly alone.  Try using the new iTunes Genius with any fairly large collection of music and you will find that the list of songs provided does not cross genres.  You won't find Jay-Z with Guns and Roses, the assumption being that no G&R fan would listen to "that" style music.

Comparing this reality to the UK market and you quickly notice that the airwaves are filled with music that crosses genres and age groups.  And, of course, they need to cross cultures with such a condensed and smaller population than in much of the States.  And this is the culture that produced Amy Winehouse.  For her to be successful she needed to be talented, and she needed to appeal to the widest possible audience and what better way to do this than to take the R&B sounds of the youth subculture and combine melody and singing of the Motown sound?  And it worked!  And it easily exported over to the States, thus contributing to an already expanding array of British artists on the American charts.   

Today Atlantic Records has been combined with Electra Records.  Although Motown is still around no one argues that its better days are ahead.  Atlantic was bought by Warner and eventually all talent was decimated by the dotcom implosion and aftermath in the AOL/Time-Warner fiasco.  As a parting gift Atlantic gave us the sounds of Norah Jones.  Well, indirectly anyway.  The music business talent that had been running Atlantic for years was laid off by AOL and they needed somewhere to go.  Many chose Blue Note Records, a reputable small competitor and new home to Norah Jones and these are the people that helped her early career.   

Ayn Rand and Faust

To say that Ayn Rand would be against the current bailout is obvious, but her philosophy for the marketplace was very helpful in causing the current situation. How her books, especially The Fountainhead, came to be viewed as must read material for the corporate culture in the past 10 years is testament to the poor decisions of corporate America.

On one level Rand would have the opinion that the companies now facing extinction should be allowed to fail; after all these are the natural marketplace rewards for foolish choices. Furthermore, someone that views charity as something that is not a moral obligation, and should only be given when not an inconvenience and when the recipient is most likely to use the help as the donator sees fit, is not a person of much use in our current situation. But it is important to note that the culture of corporate America was influenced by her philosophy thanks to Alan Greenspan because he was an early follower of Rand and a subscriber of her philosophy of Objectivism early in his career.

Greenspan's disillusionment with the financial establishment's incredible shortsightedness was a pretty shocking admission before congress, especially after his previous warnings of irrational exuberance and the possibility of squandering the surplus were readily ignored.

For myself there were two moments of clarity that convinced me that America was heading in the wrong direction and had no idea how to change course. These incidents included a piece of work I had recently read by Ayn Rand, and an appearance on Meet the Press of Henry Paulson.

The The Art of Fiction is a posthumous book of lectures or discussions by Rand as advice to authors for developing a work of fiction. When discussing character development I was struck by the single mindedness she espoused for the characters; if the character was to have a belief in a goal then every action should lead to that goal (my paraphrasing since I returned the book to the library). I think her views are an insult to the complexity of the human condition. In short, the advice was a little simplistic and immature, which, by the way, is the same criticism of the philosophy of Objectivism. And anyone subscribing to this advice may produce writing that is downright boring.

My second moment was being awestruck by Henry Paulson on Meet the Press when he glibly stated that we must bailout big business but homeowners had options open to them that they should take advantage of to stay in their homes. This seemed pretty out of touch with the steady news reports of the numbers of people in financial trouble and the rising statistics of foreclosures. Perhaps there is an argument for not helping homeowners, apparently Obama has a different opinion, but to so blatantly dismiss such difficulties being experienced by so many Americans was cold, at best. At worst it displayed to the nation a political tone deafness that we have come to see many times by Paulson, and it showed that he really did not, and does not know if the steps he is recommending will actually work.

In Goethe's Faust Part Two we witness a climb to power with still the want for more. When Faust laments that he does not have a perfect view because it is obstructed by a small cottage he becomes obsessed with obtaining the “perfect” view. Mephistopheles, i.e.: Satan, comes to the aide of Faust and murders the elderly couple living there and burns the cottage to the ground thus providing the perfect view that Faust desired. Faust is distraught, but Mephistopheles assures him that when you are making an omelet that you have to break a few eggs. Faust does go on to salvation, but this was an important lesson for him.

And herein lies the rub. We should not idolize the type of corporations that Rand worships because the days of the cold war are over. The philosophy of Objectivism did work well when it directed its critical eye toward the communist philosophy, but then fell out of favor when we actually won the cold war. The work of Rand found a second life in sections of corporate America and this is where the shortcomings of Objectivism have become startlingly apparent. Like communism it removes the human spirit and ignores the cultural tendencies that can change any supposed outcome. In this way, Objectivism and communism are really just two sides of the same coin, and both as naive and immature as a philosophy to live or govern by.

We should be making Goethe required reading for the top echelons of corporate America. Of course at one time it was required reading because most people running large corporations used to receive the classic liberal arts education and this is the type of education that requires deeper thought about morals, values, and consequences. In short, the type of education that rewards long term success, not short term gain. The type of education commonly received by CEO's today is in business and this is an important distinction. When businesses fail it hurts a great many people, and in the end you want to think that it was the true marketplace that caused the hardship, and not for an instant payoff to a corporate gamble or because someone was striving for an office with a better view.

Ace Frehley, Gene Simmons and the Rock & Roll hall of fame

Gene Simmons (Chaim Witz) has never been shy about his contributions to Rock and Roll, and he has never missed an opportunity to let people within hearing distance know his opinion on anything from Israel, to his family, to the quickest way to make a buck.  Not that there is anything wrong with his opinions; Israel was his birthplace, he loves his family, and Kiss' renown for making money through marketing is well documented.  And when  you listen to Mr.Simmons long enough you'll find that he dislikes half of the founding members of the lengendary group Kiss, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley (Paul Frehley).  Of course, as of this writing you may find that he dislikes Peter more than Ace, but that may change.  His friendship with fellow bandmate, Paul Stanley (Stanley Eisen), does seem to be a longstanding true friendship.  

Kiss' rise to fame is well documented and can be summed up in the typical bio-pic format, they're up, they're down, they're up again.  However trite a description that may be, it is hard to deny them the impact the band has made on the rock scene with their bombastic tour set in the 70's, 22 gold or platinum albums, 24 charting singles, and devoted fan base.  Not to mention that with their longevity they have been around long enough to reinvent themselves at least 3 times.  

The Rock and Roll hall of fame's ability to nominate artists with such comparatively limited appeal and influence as Blondie, The Lovin Spoonful, Dusty Springfield, Sly and the Family Stone, and Bobbie Darin is unmatched by any historical society aside from the Smithsonian, which will take just about anything.  Lookup the accomplishments of Kiss against Blondie in almost any category and Kiss comes out on top.  So why would RRHOF be so stingy in a nomination for Kiss?  That elusive quality of originality?  Authenticity?  Quality of music?  How about cronyism at RRHOF?

Mr. Simmons' contribution to rock and roll is substantial, but one also must recognize that as a musician he really is average.  He's a respectable bass player, he can carry a tune, although his voice is most suitable for the heavy metal genre.  But musicianship is hardly the only qualifying admission to the club.  The hunger for success, the stage persona, the consistent, albeit not without flaws, contribution to music all paint a much more complete picture of a prominent Rock and Roll Star that belongs in the RRHOF.  This doesn't even cover the extensive work Mr. Simmons does outside the world of music.  Work important when attempting to quantify John Lennon's importance.  Sound ridiculous?  Mr. Simmons recently won $800,000 for a charity on Who's Smarter than a 5th Grader?  But even that sounds inauthentic and almost demeaning.  Unless you happen to be the charity.  

Which brings us to Ace.  There was an interview in the early 90's when Gene was discussing previous lead guitarists and he mentioned that Ace just never developed, despite the hope they had in the band that he would keep improving.  Ace's alcohol abuse and drug issues did have a major impact on his creativity and ability to play.  It is ironic that Ace's contribution to the band was increasing during the last couple years he played with Kiss, even as his offstage abuse increased.  It's also important to note that Gene is not the most prolific, or even most talented member of the group; that would be Paul Stanley.  

When VH1 listed the most influential hard rock bands of all time Kiss made the top 10, but not the top 6.  The top 6 had the mention that they were a truly well rounded band without any noticable weakness and the members on this list that are eligible are all in the RRHOF.  And therein lies the problem between Ace and Gene.  The pressures and temptations of living as superstars the way Kiss did at one time must be tremendous.  But still, Ace did have a negative impact on the band with his substance abuse, and this could have been avoided.   VH1 may have implied that Gene was average, but there are average members of every band on the list.  

It must be hard to know that your band, and your name could be in that top  6 list but it is not.  If you listen to the entire MTV acoustic set of Kiss with both the old and new members on the latest Kissology DVD set you can see footage of two very different bands.  The band at the time of the MTV set consisted of Gene, Paul, Bruce Kulick, and Eric Singer.  They played a very tight and well rehearsed set and the crowd loved the set.  Later in the set the original lineup including Ace and Peter played together and this is the event that kicked off the reunion album and tour along with the album MTV Kiss Unplugged.  

Ace's licks had to be retaught to him by Bruce Kulick, one of the many replacements since 1982.  On the DVD set you will learn that a couple songs were omitted from the album and it is clearly because they were the weaker performances, the weakest by far were by the current lineup.  Despite all the years, despite the key ingredient being talent for the revolving membership in the band aside for Gene and Paul, it is shocking how good and natural the original band sounds.  And this is why as a fan I am also frustrated that Ace left the band due to his substance abuse.  I also think it must be in Gene's mind that with that original lineup that the idea that Kiss is a well rounded band would be pretty well founded, that it should be Kiss in the top 6, and that it should be Kiss in the RRHOF.  I guess Kiss should have done what Van Halen did and refused to admit there was a substance abuse problem for years, get into the RRHOF, then fall apart.  

Now that Ace has his act together, I am looking forward to his new solo album.  

Bob Dylan and Dave Matthews

A comparison between Bob Dylan and Dave Matthews would not be exceptionally original, most notably because of the obvious level of musical talent of both men, their movement from acoustic to electric, and the ability to blend several social influences into a cohesive song. Dylan went from the folk and acoustic sound overnight, while the Dave Matthews Band took their time while never actually abandoning the sound. The most interesting comparison is not their similarities, but the striking difference between Bob Dylan's musical genius and Dave Matthews' lyrical gifts.

Bob Dylan's genius is unmatched and unchallenged in the rock world. Although some would argue that he reached his apex with Highway 61 Revisited and Blond on Blond, he can still produce albums of exceptional culture value such as 2007's Modern Times. While reviewing 2007's “Bob Dylan: The Essential Interviews” by Jonathan Cott, Louis Menand made an important distinction between Dylan's talent for the music and Dylan's ability to communicate. Menand goes on to describe interviewers that expect Dylan to be an expert on subjects he sings about, only to walk away from the interview disappointed. Dylan never leaves an interviewer disappointed when the discussion is about the music, the sound of the lyrics meshing with the music, and the overall tone of a piece.

As a complete virtuoso of the ability to match the sound of the words with the musical content of a song, Dylan has been very creative, some would say too creative, with how to get specific words into the rhythm he is looking to fill. Dylan wrote All Along The Watchtower to be read backwards line by line, he wrote Tangled Up In Blue, dedicated or inspired by Jack Kerouac, as a “Cubist” experiment with music. To read Tangled Up In Blue is to quickly understand that the song is a story, but it cannot possibly be a linear story within any historical context. You cannot possibly drive an automobile and live within the time frame of legal slave trading in New Orleans. Clearly the wording itself is secondary to the music, but this is really slicing a thin hair when you consider the confidence and creativeness necessary to invent the musical style of “Cubism” in music just to write a song with the lyrics you need. Much has been made of Dylan's own commentary of the wording in his songs, and they were not kind words, but it is obvious to most critics that the wording and music did fit. The fans of his songs, or the Jimi Hendrix song by Dylan, not only forgive using words the way he does which make simple interpretation just about impossible, they adore him for just this reason.

It is easy to contrast Dylan's style with the style and gifts of Dave Matthews, who has played his entire career surrounded by a versatile, creative and incomparably talented core of musicians in the Dave Matthews Band, and also Tim Reynolds as a frequent side project. However, the one bit of control Dave Matthews has made clear in interviews that he is greedy about are the lyrics he writes. He, David J. Matthews, writes them. Matthews has written songs with layered meanings beautifully worded to express disillusionment and beauty, often with religious overtones. Matthews obviously takes delight in writing songs infused with religious arguments between Catholics and Protestant Fundamentalists, such as Grace is Gone and Bartender. In the medium of rock and roll, which is often ashamed of or hostile to religion, there is a consistent expression of spirituality and an understanding of religious concepts unmatched in current mainstream music. Religious devotion and nationalistic pride dominate the song Joyride, although not in a good way, which appeared on the “extra” CD available with Stand Up.

And herein lies the difference between Dylan and Matthews. Matthews never invented a new medium such as Cubism to contain his lyrics because he never had to. His talent was the lyrics, much more so than the music even though he is still one of the most gifted musicians in the business. It is no mistake that Matthews has kept The Dave Matthews Band intact over the past 15 plus years because he does rely on their talents to compliment his own. Dylan does not have this type of loyalty to a band throughout his career.

The Late Bloomers article in the New Yorker and the book Outliers, both by Malcolm Gladwell, were insightful and challenging observations about talent and the work to attain lifelong achievements. Although Mr. Dylan has shown himself to be extremely adept at producing insightful glimpses into the human condition even late into his career, we do not yet know if Dave Matthews has that same longevity. Hopefully, longevity will be a trait Matthews shares with Dylan.