Sex Pistols

Splendor with the Cash:  Taking Lessons from the past of the Entertainment Industry.

As a child I watched and listened with a sense of wonder to the various artists who seemed to move from stage to stage via large tour busses and limousines.  I witnessed Jimi Hendrix and the Monkees as a sea of young females performed their ritual primal screams towards center stage.   Each time as I closed my basement room and plugged in my guitar I closed my eyes imagining myself sharing the stage of my icons.  I imagined endless amounts of cash flowing towards them with a sense of greed and jealousy that would also flow in my direction if I could simply get a few more years under my belt.

As a young artist I then settled into the predictable routine of the starving artist constantly struggling for the sake of his art.   Later I discovered that I would have to be very careful about what I ask for because I just might get it.  The ‘starving artist’ bit got old real fast.  I found myself drowning in a sea of temporary jobs that rarely paid me my true worth.  I discovered that the precious cash I did manage to retain soon flowed out to the hands of engineers and agents.  It was a difficult and jading experience.  And so here I sit sharing with you with the same sort of joy the wonders and privilege of being a fully realized artist wanting to write my songs from a comfy sofa.  Go figure.

I was thinking long and hard about what to write about in this blog.  In a world of so much information disbursed over the cable and Internet which particular phenomena I recall and what its true impact on me truly was and is.

And so, I dig back into my memory of my most significant recollections involving the world of music that to this day still resonate for me.    Here are some of them.  I’ve tried to make them relevant to modern times as much as possible.

Rocky Horror.     This movie has turned into a cult classic that continues to generate significant profits despite the fact that little of these monies have reached the original participants of this movie.  It is a lesson in creative and artistic success measured against a financial mess that to this day remains unresolved. 

As a high school student I worked for a movie theatre that had special midnight shows of this sci-fi musical classic.  I watched with sheer joy as costumed audiences sang and responded to the silver screen.  It was so much more than a mere movie with quirky audience and delivery.  It was an event, an escape from the ordinary in the wee hours of the empty midnight small town main street.   And so you will understand that when I discovered that none of the original actors, musicians, producers, or managers ever received a nickel in royalties.  I found this out through Susan Sarandon (Janet) who—while recalls her early experiences fondly—has publically chastised those marketing and distributing to movie for failing to pay up. 

And yet I still watch this wonderfully absurd movie, sing along, and yell out responses like that high school kid.  I sometimes think that its shock value was what sold it.  I see this desire to achieve shock value still in the media.  I recall interviews from movies in this class where it is noted that it has become increasingly difficult to achieve this shock value.  The recent Charlie Sheen debacle seems to be close to achieving this sense of morbid wonder.   But is it really the same thing?  Rocky Horror was fantasy and escapism at its most profound.  There is nothing real about this movie.  It was and is otherworldly and somehow more innocent—if I may still use that word with any integrity

Sex Pistols.  Here is a group of four self-contained misanthrope ‘musicians’ on the fringe managed by a virtually Machiavellian exploitive manager that on the books had nothing going for them.  They could barely tune their instruments without getting into a brawl.  Their shows were chronically violent.  They played in the most ridiculous venues.  They cursed and swore on the media that was at the time totally opposed to such occurrences.  When they did finally get a song on the charts it was blacked out mostly because they just didn’t play well with the powers that be.  In effect, they did everything wrong and somehow managed to carve out a career that to this day still draws attention in some markets.

They fascinated me.  I watched with morbid interest and still watch their videos and audios through the Internet.  They practically invented pogo dancing as a dance trend.  The number of groups that attempted to copy them cannot be counted.  And in today’s world I ask myself how is it that I as an artist and manager can recapture the excitement of this time in my own peculiar way without hitting the destruct switch.  I argue that it is becoming increasingly hard to realize this sort of exposure.  I am not claiming that their self-destructive antics should be repeated with the same sort of visceral anarchy.  Nor am I suggesting that vulgarity is the only way to reach the audience.  But there is something in the sheer power of this group to reach out to their audience.   I think the success of such moments lies in realizing the power of grassroots movements that somehow get inside the head of the culture. 

Reality Television.  The public just seems to eat this stuff up.  Think about this for a moment.  A recent project decided to follow mob wives around recording their various antics.   Ill-tempered brides terrorizing their family and party planners have become entertainment.  A group of fishermen chasing king crab in the cold waters has become something of an obsession.  In one of the most odd phenomena one of the characters suffering from terminal cancer continued to have his death put on to film.  And yes I will admit it.  I felt it deep inside when he finally went, like an old friend never to be seen.   Donald Trump leads a group of neurotic entrepreneurs through a circus-like series of challenges weekly.  We watch with glee while these guys backstab and manipulate each other to the finals. 

So much for examples.  The point is we seem to have this compulsive and eternally insatiable need to look in on other people’s lives and have found yet new territories via the media.  It has become natural and somehow innate.  What happened?  Where did this all begin and where will it go?  As marketers, these are questions we need to ask ourselves. 

I Love Lucy:  I am reminded of a young and semi-successful Cuban bandleader who came up with an idea for a then innovative television sit-com.  The studio executives doubted whether the audience was ready for a show that featured a young redheaded Comedienne and a Cuban bandleader.  In fact, they made multiple attempts to replace him with a more ‘acceptable’ actor who conformed to audience expectations obviously guided by culture bias.  The Comedienne refused to do the show without her then husband.  The studio reluctantly went ahead.  This young Cuban and Comedienne accepted a contract for less money in exchange for retaining all rights to the show.  Even this was a new concept for the entertainment business at the time. 

The show was called “I Love Lucy” and continues to be a staple in the television universe.   This show seeded an entire studio known as Desilu Studios that generated multiple financially successful hits in its wake.  In short, they built a media empire because they understood if in concept only the lessons of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, risks, and opportunity cost.  In reality, there is nothing new under the sun.  Want to make serious money?  Want to get your talents to your audience?  Measure the risks while carefully monitoring your fears and desires.  Accept the consequences of the risks and learn to adapt.  This is the challenge faced by this studio considering Studio C.

These are just some thoughts on this.  I admit that I ask many more questions than I answer.  This was intentional.  It is my firm belief that as artists and entrepreneurs we must always be looking into the hearts and minds of our potential audience.  The real trick is how we capitalize on history’s lessons with an eye towards the future.

I hope you enjoyed this posting and provided you with some food for thought.  I hope that the next time you are in an absurd moment of your life that some of these words might come to mind.