I smile every time this comes on my iPod.
Once upon a time, radio was the filter, before it became completely corporatized, littered with twenty two minutes of commercials per hour and we all stopped listening.
I know, I know, that's not completely true, the little girls listen to Top Forty and the oldsters revere the obscurities on the NonComm stations, but what about someone positively mainstream, a rocker who once was...where is she supposed to be played?
Nowhere.
Used to be artists spent months and hundreds of thousands of dollars perfecting a sound, knowing listeners were waiting with eager anticipation. Now...no one cares.
And that positively sucks.
Which is why he (or she!) who invents the filter will own the future, will make all the money.
It can't be done with algorithms, otherwise Pandora wouldn't suck. It depends completely on humans, picking certified winners for the time-challenged.
If you ever liked Stevie Nicks, you can't hate this. You can't shake your head and say it's dreck. You may not love it, but you can't dismiss it. And what more can you ask for?
Ignore the naysayers, who hate Fleetwood Mac because they were too successful. The hipsters who can't like what everyone else does. That's the fringe. The middle, and I don't mean that disparagingly, the middle contains most people, would absolutely LOVE "Secret Love". But it came out and made barely a ripple and was forgotten.
It needs to be brought back.
First and foremost, there's the sound. Like a dark night in the middle of the summer, and suddenly a door opens and you go inside.
And what's up with that buzz saw guitar that keeps coming back, adding edge...I LOVE IT!
And the changes.
And the background vocals.
"I am not asking forever from you
I'm just asking to be held for a while
In a timeless search for love that might work"
You get older and you forsake your dreams. You're not looking for perfection, you're just looking for something, in a mental wilderness where there are people all around you, but very little connection.
This music is not made for the immature, it's made for you. With the rough edges, with the love handles, with the wisdom of years.
Madonna misfired with "MDNA", she wanted to be forever young.
Stevie Nicks aged. Not gracefully, none of us ever do. And she delivered something positively adult, and for that she's penalized?
The media only focuses on that with smooth skin, that which is brand new. But "Secret Love" is so in the pocket, so right, that it could become a cultural staple.
If people only heard it.
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Who is Bob Lefsetz:
"Bob Lefsetz is the author of "The Lefsetz Letter." Famous for being beholden to no one and speaking the truth, Lefsetz addresses the issues that are at the core of the music business: downloading, copy protection, pricing and the music itself.
His intense brilliance captivates readers from Steven Tyler to Rick Nielsen to Bryan Adams to Quincy Jones to EVERYBODY who’s in the music business.
Never boring, always entertaining, Bob’s insights are fueled by his stint as an entertainment business attorney, majordomo of Sanctuary Music’s American division and consultancies to major labels."
Reprinted by permission
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