Does it Rock?

So, I'm subscribed to an E-mail blog that receives writings from Bob Lefsetz who is a Music Industry guru, genius, and...well...often times...hater. But he's legit and has mad credibility as he has years of experience as an entertainment lawyer in the (music) biz. You can read his blogs here: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/.

Anyhow...below is an excerpt of one of his latest blogs. Read everything first and then go to the You Tube link he provides.

Does it rock?!?!

I have to tell you that when I watched the clip I felt something...I wanted to hear more..., but did I like it? I actually don't know! But what I do know is that it rendered an emotional response in me. It did what music is supposed to do!!!

I have to agree with Mr. Lefsetz' last two paragraphs and say that it indeed does rock!

SEE BELOW...


Someone e-mailed me about this act a couple of years back. I downloaded a few tracks. I didn't get it. But watching the clip, I was brought back to the sixties and Laura Nyro. Both sounded not quite like anybody else. You couldn't put your finger exactly on their talent. Neither was classically beautiful. But you were touched in a way Top Forty radio never reaches you, you felt the power of rock and roll.

Go to: http://youtube.com/watch?v=6kMIFDm7rS8

I know, you're asking yourself...is this guy gay? I mean what's up with his hair? Couldn't he go on a diet? Let go of your American preconceptions, just watch. This completely live performance.

This guy isn't doing it for the audience, he's doing it for himself. You believe he's been tortured his whole life, criticized for being himself, so he holed up in his bedroom and wrote this song and nervously, he's playing it for us live.

We didn't see the intro of this clip on the DVD. We had no idea of Antony's history. All we got was the music. And that was enough. Great music needs no context.

The business is tanking because everybody's playing it safe. They want surgically-enhanced stars, who don't write their own material. Who they can get commercials for, who they can get sponsored. What Fortune 500 company is going to go into business with Antony and the Johnsons? Public companies would run! Top Forty radio would laugh at the prospect of playing the music. The irrelevant rock formats are too caught up in oldies and formulaic hard stuff to take a chance. So greatness languishes. But greatness is out there, it exists.

Watch this clip in its entirety. It will render you speechless. If for no other reason than your brain will be unable to process it, will wonder what the fuck it is!

What this is is rock and roll. Music that tests the limits that touches your heart. Not pabulum. Not entertainment. Rather tuneage that demands your attention. That enriches your life.

You wonder why the U.K. music scene is healthier than that of the U.S? Because of shows like Jools Holland's. Where everybody plays live, where it's only about the music. Music still gets respect in the U.K. Here, it's just a tool of the man.

I Who Interests Me

I have become bored with MySpace, and I'm sure anyone who has ever frequented www.myspace.com/thesouza has by now given up checking to see what might be new there. I can't get the hang of making it interesting to others, and nobody seems to leave any comments for me! Well....I guest that's probably because I don't make any comments on anybody's "space"...ever. What does that say about me?

I believe that I learned something about myself from MySpace: I might be a little more narcissistic than I thought. I am willing to admit that I am very much interested in my own self, but it is certainly harder for me to admit openly that I am not as interested in others. Reason is that if that were to be true than that would have to mean...that I'm mean...or arrogant or stuck up or something else horrible that might damage my own view of myself. Ah ha, back again to me!

Regardless of what may be difficult to come to terms with, I never spent much time on any other MySpace except for my own. There is no getting around that fact, and that has to say something.

"My my, I certainly am an interesting fellow aren't I?"
"Well, yes of course thank you my dear self!"
"What do you think of those other people?"
"Not interesting...besides they don't seem to be interested in me."
"Strange"

Philippians 2:20-21