Bob, Netflix distribution is only half the story. Here’s the best part: the film is based on a story published on Toronto-based social writing/reading platform Wattpad by a then 15 year-old from Wales named Beth Reekles. Her story has tens of millions of reads on Wattpad. Meaning that Netflix already had a massive built-in audience for the film.
Best,
Jordan Jacobs
P.S. Let me know if you’d like an intro to Wattpad founder Allen Lau. They have a huge global YA lit platform that is unknown to most people outside that demographic.
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Interesting note re: The Kissing Booth. Before the movie came out on Netflix a few weeks ago, its star, Joey King, had less than 1 million followers on Instagram. As of today she has 3.9M. That’s impact!
Adam Graham
The Detroit News
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Critics being out of touch with the audience (and audience not caring what critics say) is how you get to Trump after NYT misses it. That the great unwashed have spoken doesn't make it right
Michael Olsen
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Much of the public has never cared about critics because many people don't read and are ill informed. That's why we got a reality show star for our president. If popularity was based on critics, Led Zeppelin and Journey never would have had a hit.
Steve Cabral
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I have a 12 year old son and he loves "The Kissing Booth" and he keeps telling me about how the kids at school are obsessed with this movie. I watched a little bit of it. I am 51. Definitely not for me but hey I am not the intended audience.
Keep up the good work
Rich Siegmeister
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I WAS there. I couldn't stop crying when Justified won. Strangers hugged and high-fived. I have NEVER experienced that level of excitement as part of a crowd. The energy and emotion as the horses came down the final stretch was truly BEYOND. The man next to me flew in from LA, so we traded stories of being LA natives and mourned Hollywood Park. (As for Belmont: they ran out of food, ran out of the signature drink, the "Belmont Jewel," and the lines for both betting and bathrooms were pretty unbearable (says this veteran of thousands of concerts and festivals.) Plus, the LIRR took our money, made us two hours late, and ultimately didn't even get us to Belmont. Thanks for the save, Uber.) But it didn't matter. That 2:28 seconds more than made up for all the hassles.
I was only 9 or 10 when Secretariat won, but he has been my champion ever since. My mother and I named our car "Secretariat." And I kept the Time Magazine "Super Horse" cover. Years later (a few years ago) while chatting with guitarist Tom Morello, he told me that he watched Secretariat race (on you tube, I'm presuming) for inspiration. Then he had his assistant call and ask if Tom could buy my mag cover! (which is somewhere in my storage unit.... I hope!)
And, an added note: Third Eye Blind played before (mini-set) and after (full set) the race. And they killed it. Singer Stephan Jenkins mentioned his pleasure and surprise re: the amount of people there and into them. (Yes, many admittedly drunk, and drunk on the thrill of the day.) But I saw a lot of people singing along to not-the-hits, and they got a genuine encore.
All that said: Justify is no Secretariat, no disrespect intended. Secretariat was a once-in-a-lifetime horse and athlete. The Elvis of his time, but with a happier ending.
Katherine Turman, music journalist and Producer, Nights with Alice Cooper
www.katherineturman.com ______________________________________
Take it from me, a long-time horse owner, etc., they DO know when they win…
Won’t bore you with details, but they aren’t robots…
Nick Ben-Mair
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Subject: Re: Ye's Album Length
My teenaged boys listened to “ye” the day it dropped like we used to
listen to albums: in order, all the way through. Their comments were
that it’s a “piece”, almost like one 20-minute song with different
movements: “it dips in the middle but finishes strong”
My age 30+ music biz peeps said “No hits, meh”.
My teens said “that misses the point, Kanye’s got some things to say
and is going back to simpler roots on this one.” Almost like they know
at any moment Another “album” could drop, or more collabs, with hits
galore. They immediately expressed interest in seeing him tour this
20 minute piece (and whatever else he feels like performing).
Generational thing.... Rap is stickier than ever for them! Inagaddadavita....
Michele Page
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Subject: Re: Ye's Album Length
Date: June 5, 2018 at 6:09:04 AM PDT
Bob,
The first song on Pusha T’s Daytona album is called, “If You Know You Know”. He performed it on Jimmie Kimmel last week.
The main groove of that song is sampled from a record I co-wrote and recorded back in 1972 in Detroit called, “Twelve O’clock Satanial”. We were inspired by music which had a more philosophical and universal message, verses just straight rock & roll... Progressive Rock. Bands like, King Crimson, Yes and Emerson-Lake-& Palmer. Because our song wasn’t commercial, we never had expectations of our record selling very much. It was just the type of music we loved.
What’s amazing is, 46 years later, producer Kanye West picks my song to sample and put on a hard-core rap album for millions to hear! (There’s another song on the album where Kanye actually sampled 5 seconds of a song called, “Heart of the Sunrise” by Yes)
Goes to show, if you maintain your integrity and stay true to what you love, things will work out.
Rich Nesbit
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From: Steve Androulakis
Subject: Re: WWDC
"So, the geeks get it. They go into tech to fulfill an inner dream, to play in that sandbox more than to get rich."
I work as a coder for Amazon Alexa and YES, that's it! For many of us it's less about the (great) money, and more about the great things you can do while sailing on the big battleship.
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From: Eric Harle
Subject: Re: Moby's Book
Hi Bob,
there should have been a link to the playlist of all the music in the book at the back but not sure as it’s not in all copies.
here is all the music mentioned in the book on this playlist
moby.la/companionplaylistMo This microsite has a link to the cd compilation we also put together for the book release just in case
moby.com/book/ thanks
eric
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From: ZOX
Subject: Re: Speaking of Podcasts...
great vid. one correction re: aggregators: CDbaby takes 9% in perpetuity of that 65-70% (they don’t even mention it on their site!), vs. Tunecore that just has a one-time fee and lets you keep 100% of that 65%-70%. our band’s stuff is distro'ed via CDbaby, which i regret, because we lose that 9% each year. But can’t switch to Tunecore because then we’d be pulled from all the Spotify playlists when we switch aggregators….
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From: Michael Lee Wolfe
Subject: Re: Run Away From The Mainstream
Hi Bob,
It’s about time you wrote a piece like this! The rest of the iceberg! I find you first and foremost entertaining and often informative. And I am diggin’ the podcasts. Good work.
Now. As for the artists like myself who have built a reasonable career in obscurity I rather doubt your words will add much wisdom. Those who have been experimenting, recording and gigging away for years already know about being unclassifiable. As the art critic Robert Hughes once said, (more or less) "... an artist with something to say will find a way to survive like weeds in the cracks of the sidewalk." We are the rest of the iceberg. We’ve been singing that song since long before Woody Guthrie wrote “Jesus Christ”!
All the best. Feats Don’t Fail Me Now!
Michael Lee Wolfe
Oviedo, Spain
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Subject: Re: Howard Stern On Letterman On Netflix
Bob - I love your examples and your points but the ready example that existed before social media and closed clubs like Netflix is Black or Latino entertainment and culture. In social media there is “black” twitter— where trending topics are often and mostly very different than the mainstream, even on Netflix there are shows that blacks love and watch that get no traction with the mainstream press or viewer. There are stories in Latino press about ICE and other government issues that don’t make the broader media. Tyler Perry literally built an empire selling media to underserved communities. I’m not a huge fan of Mr Perry but I recognize that his success is speaking to an audience that advertisers don’t covet but whose attention he commands.
Does the mainstream media laud the Latin acts that sell out MSG multiple nights like they do the YouTuber or the classic rock act who makes a token appearance at some outdoor shed.
Artist stay in their lane, but our traditional media companies sells viewers to advertisers and are hunting for a largely white, male rock demographic and are ignoring the people standing all around them (black women, Latinos) who are clamoring for more things they like. Oprah is huge but white males aren’t watching her network or perhaps even understanding her allure.
I worked In record stores in the early wee (Spec’s in South Florida) when we counted records for album charts. And then soundscan came in and showed us what the people really wanted. And ain’t that what it’s all about; to paraphrase the O’Jays song, “you got to give the people, give the people what they want!”
Cross cultural stars exist but when you Look at the audiences as a whole we were already in silos, sometimes to narrowly cast by the media purveyors but there remains some truth in those divisions.
Thanks
Trevor
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From: Gary Gold
Subject: Re: Kenny Aronoff-This Week's Podcast
Thanks for the Kenny bit.
Kenny Aronoff and I go WAY back. We were in a few bands together… most notably the New York Jazz Ensemble, where we switched off vibes playing and drums. We played at Alices’s at Avaloch a lot… which was where Alice's restaurant moved to after it got famous. It was across the street from the Music Inn and Tanglewood so whoever was playing those venues, would often come up and play with us. We both lived in the Berkshires but the rest of the band came up from NYC and included Kenny Kirkland (probably the greatest keyboardist there ever was, next to Herbie) and CJ McBee son of the great jazz bassist Cecil Mcbee (Trane and Miles).
Kenny was super generous musically and even more so with the “drum stuff”. Still is to this day.
We did a lot of practicing in those days. I had the rare opportunity of being one of the few people to study with Tony Williams and Kenny studied with Tony’s mentor, Alan Dawson. There are a lot of Dawson protege’s out there and you can always tell who they are, basically because they are BADASS and SWING. There is a thing called the Rudimental Ritual and if you can play it you are already a master.
Anecdotally, I was producing a Smokey Robinson record not too long ago over at The Village in LA. There is a little secret doorway that connects Studio’s A and B. Those by the way are two of the greatest rooms and consoles in all of music. Sly and the Family Stone to Fleetwood Mac and MANY classic records recorded there.
So I had played drums on this track and Smokey mentioned he wanted to give the song to Blake Shelton (you’d be amazed at all the music that Smokey is into). I had snuck thru the secret door to see what was up in A - and was surprised to find Kenny finishing a track for I don’t know who. The engineer/producer had more mics up on Kenny’s kit than I had ever seen on a drum kit and it sounded AMAZING. After hugs, jewish geography, who is where and shut-ups, I asked Kenny if he would be interested in replacing my tracks on this Smokey tune and of course, he was excited. I ran back and asked Smokey, explaining who Kenny was and saying that I thought his rock groove was bang-on for this song. Smokey green lit and the next morning BOOM two takes and we were done.
I love Kenny and his whole family. Good kind peeps.
And my deepest thanks you Bob. The truth you speak is always uplifting, and even more so in this post truth era.
Cheers,
Gary Gold
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Subject: Re: Mailbag-Kenny Aronoff, Women In The Music Business And More!
Bob I know this is a little late but I had to testify.
Yes Kenny is brilliant and trained but he plays like he isn’t trained when needed reckless and free.
Over the years I’ve jammed and partied with him all over the world and I can tell you this...I have never seen him in a bad mood HE IS ALWAYS HAPPY!
And another thing is this,
Kenny doesn’t just play beats he creates hooks with the drums.
You mentioned the big drum solo in Jack And Diana and what about his snare roll breaks on Lonely Old Night....Those Drums parts are as important as the chorus!
Love ya Kenny!!
Stevie Salas
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Subject: Re: Bernie Sanders On Bill Maher
Bob,
When people talk of Trump “playing to his base” most know what that means. How would the Democrats describe their base? Would they know how to “play to their base”? My guess is that a lot of the people who the Dems think of as their base are actually voting for Trump. Because those that the Dems think of as their base no longer believe a word tossed at them.
Bernie doesn’t talk at those people. He doesn’t just sympathize. He doesn’t empathize (“I understand what you’re going through”) which the worst BS-radar in the world can detect. He takes an approach of “this is what needs to be done” and lets the listener decide if that will help them. And that’s why they like respond.
Most Dems act like the Malcom McDowell character toward the end of “O Lucky Man” when he mixes with the homeless and cries “My Brothers. My Sisters.” And they beat the shit out of him. The people who feel left out want somebody to bring them in, not somebody they think of as a rich fucker who will fly in (or more often over), drop a few heartfelt tears and then never look back.
Steve
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Just demolished a bag of cape cod bbq chips
Awesome
910 calories
Reduced fat and sodium
Hard to stop eating and put Down bag
When I was a kid it was wise but now It’s cape cod bbq or salt and vinegar! Goodnight and all the best! Regards,
Jac Berman
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I think what this shows is that food is definitely more interesting to the masses than music is these days. If only there was as much passion for the arts as there is for the grocery store...
Daryl Williams
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"Our #1 Best Seller! Chocolate Covered Potato Chips"
Photo from Garlord, Mich..
Metro Detroit is the region that consumes the most potato chips, has been since the ‘70s, according to social scientists..
Marshall Crenshaw
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It's late but did no one mention Zapp's potato chips from "the little chippery in Gramercy, LA"?
What I thought as a child was the original one and only kettle fried chip, fried specifically in peanut oil. That guy originally expanded his brand in part by giving his Zapp's chips away for free on the side of the interstate (I-10 in Baton Rouge). My dad brought them home raving about them. Good stuff.
Michael Treadway
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www.middleswarthchips.com David Beard
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+1 vote for Tim’s Cascade Style
Interestingly, they are marketed as “Bob’s Texas Style” in Texas. Same exact packaging as Tim’s, except for the replacement of the name and replacing the image of the state of Washington with the state of Texas. Their jalapeno chips are easily the best ever made.
Steve Boom
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omg yes - we must move on to Linden's Chocolate Chip cookies. Nothing else comes close.
Deb Wilker
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Here in the great northwest, it was Nally's potato chips.
GS
Gregg M. Stieber, CPA
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Wise potato chips (when the large bag was 25 cents) doused in Franks hot sauce.
Oh, and I was obsessed with the onion / garlic.
That’s all I got -
Rhonda Cowan
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Ok. No mentions so far of Better Made Rainbow Chips (from Detroit!) which are ALL brown and with green spots on them. Better Made finally got smart and started delivering the spotted and dark chips that we all loved in one big bag. With some French onion dip (Dean’s or Yoder’s), there’s no better snack in the WORLD. All their chip products are delicious (Vidalia onion and the vinegar and salt are my other faves), but the Rainbows are the only bagful of joy for we dark chip lovers that I know of anywhere.
Also, honorable mention to Paramount Potato Chips out of Flint, Michigan (my friend Mark Farner’s home town), with possibly the cheesiest and most memorable jingle from my childhood. Long gone, unfortunately, but they had Slim Chiply as their spokesman....the “flavor deputy protecting crispness in every sack”....a stop-motion potato chip, complete with cowboy hat and a badge. Beats the Wise owl by a country mile.
Just sayin’.
Cheers,
Pete Kehoe
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If you haven’t tasted Jays Potato Chips from Chicago you haven’t had the best. Came in big bags or even larger cans than Charles Chips. In Cub Scouts (70 years ago) we painted the Jays cans and used them for waste baskets at home. Those were the days my friend........
Jack Feldman
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Thanks Bob for giving us a few blissful moments thinking about potato chips instead of the real world. Trying not to order Charles chips!!
Lisa Namerow
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Utz Carolina Style BBQ. They’re hard to find in stores (you can easily order online) - out of this world good.
m.huffpost.com/us/entry/4080718 Mike Fiebach
Founder & CEO
Fame House
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I have to back Clint Weiler's note. I grew up in the potato chip belt (SE PA) and red bag Good's chips are superior to Wise, Utz, Cape Cod and every other contender that I've tried out there.
Vito Ellison
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Cape Cod robust russet (when they’re available)
Wasn’t Wise a primarily east coast brand?
Mitchell Manasse
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In the late 80's I left NYC to head up west coast marketing for SMG. The only kickback I ever took, was a monthly delivery of Charles Chips...My boss back in Philadelphia knew of this kickback, but being born and raised in Pennsylvania he understood!
Whitten Pell
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Granny Goose?
Bob Jameson
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This was fun. My Mom’s family was from Allentown (name of the best Billy Joel song, even though you know it was supposed to be “Levittown” but that didn’t sing as well), so we were Charles’ Chips fans.
What about ice cream? I’m still angry that the best mainstream ice cream brand, dating back 150 years, Breyer’s, made with no additives, thickeners, stabilizers, etc, etc until 2003 when parent company Unilever started sneaking in carob bean gum and now the stuff is just junk (thank god for Pa’s Turkey Hill All Natural carries on the old Breyer’s tradition). You’re out there in Cali - are you on this (totally justified) McConnell’s of Santa Barbara Ice Cream kick? $9.99 per pint, I know, but its “insanely great”. Thoughts?
Rob Wolfson
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I usually get something from your newsletter and this was no different.
I love ripple chips but the suggestion to try the kettle cooked because they’re strong...never thought like that!
We grew up with sex, drugs and rock and toll.....don’t forget the chips...haha
Thanks again
All my best
Jeff Harris
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You really struck a chord writing about potato chips. Finally a subject folks can rally around and smile despite disagreement on whats best!
I am with you. I grew up in Riverside Conn and Wise were the only chips I knew ( and loved ).
My father was transferred to Atlanta from New York in 1964 and suddenly I found myself an impressionable stubborn teenager in the deep South. Wise chips were nowhere to be found and Lays tasted aweful to me. Many things were strange to me - soft drinks instead of soda, boys wore saddle oxfords (what to me were girl's shoes) nicknamed ra ra's, and everyone said yes sir and yes ma'am to adults. There was a silver lining - my parents bought me and my siblings tickets to see the Beatles at Atlanta stadium which lead to my lifelong involvrment in the music business.
My family moved back to the New York area during my college years. Wise chips were back in my life with beer !
Russell Carter
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Sorry I missed the chip fun - on Dead & Co tour.
I grew up in Lancaster PA (near Clair Brothers) and found myself back here after being a happy LA, CA resident.
There was only ONE Charles Chip factory and it was in Lancaster. Charles Chips was on the way to school, we were tortured by the heavenly aroma every time we passed the factory on Marietta Ave. We would have potato battles there amongst the tractor trailer loads. (if you got hit those potatoes hurt and caused bruises) There was literally piles of chip cans ready for washing and re-use stacked 20 tall. Nothing beats a Charles Chip.
Today that land has a cluster of family homes on it.
David B. Cooper
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I've gained 5 pounds since your first Potato Chip post!
Loren Parkins
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Okay, Bob. I had to throw my memories at-cha…in the mid 50’s in Western PA and NE Ohio where the chips of the day were NUM NUM POTATO CHIPS distributed by my first show biz manager, Jack Monaco of Farrell, PA. Me and my group, The Velvets, rehearsed in the NUM NUM warehouse, a large one room un-everything storage space that we got at no cost and were allowed a large bag of NUM NUM chips…ta die for. Then we’d go to the record hops in our mint green jackets and do back-up-vocals for the headliners! Jerry Sharell
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If you want a cynical evaluation of the nerve you hit here with potato chips it's nos surprise to me- it's because the entire entertainment industry is ADHD and is addicted to white flour-based snacks like any child who has ADHD. You will get the same enthusiastic reply if you discuss doughnuts, cookies, cakes or pretzels. They buzz us- a cheap and readily available "high". I love potato chips, am addicted to them and eat a bag everyday. And what ever happened to Wise's Cottage fries? Boy i miss them.
Best,
Hillel Wachs
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I miss a friggin week of the Lefsetz letter and I come back to POTATO CHIPS?
We are truly all searching for a connection… any kind of connection, aren’t we.
Eric Chaikin
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I am a doctor... and I played one on the radio. Trust me when I tell you there is no narrative in which potato chips are even remotely healthy. The science is there. As a very occasional guilty pleasure there is probably little risk. But people who consume junk foods like potato chips and drink diet soft drinks are contributing to their eventual ill health.
Dr. Jack M. Casey, G.M.
WERS-FM, Boston, MA
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Thanks for those Utz write-ins!!
Ted Utz
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