The Brill Building and Pop Art

Brill Building Pop Artists Highlights

                             

                                                                  The Brill Building, located at 1619 Broadway in Manhattan, was home to the publishing firm of Aldon Music.  Formed by Don Kirshner and Al Nevins, Aldon Music was dedicated to creating songs focused on the teenager, but with musical sophistication.  Songwriting teams from the Brill Building were the most prolific in the rock and roll era.  Goffin and King, Greenfield and Sedaka, and Mann all worked in this building.

As the simplistic, romantic and melodic music of the mid 19060's faded, singer songwriters began to emerge.  Carole King was disenchanted with "assembly line" songwriting began writing more introspective and more personal, expressive songs.  She was just one of the many artists who called the Brill Building their home during the 1960's and 1970's.  Historically, there was a great divide between the songwriter and the recording artist, and it was the writers from the Brill Building who first bridged that divide, becoming the first singer-songwriters.  Many artists from the Brill Building are shown below.  It's amazing what talent came out of that building.

The building still exists, but has now become general office space.  The singer/songwriter era of the 1960's and 1970's will probably never be duplicated.  Think of the hundreds of classic songs that came from this talented group of artists.  We're still singing  their songs today, a testament to the staying power of great music.

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Paul Anka

Carole King

Burt Bacharach

Lesley Gore

Fabian

Dionne Warwick

Ben E. King

The Shirelles

Gene Pitney

Connie Francis

Bobby Darin

Bobby Vee

The Crystals

The Shangri-Las

Neil Sedaka

The Righteous Brothers

Doc Pomus

Phil Spector

Darlene Love

Tommy James & the Shondells

Barry Mann

Cynthia Weil

Ellie Greenwich

The Mystics

Timi Yuro

Shelley Fabares

James Darren

The Dixie-Cups

The Exciters

Jeff Barry

Gerry Goffin

Hal David

Brute Force

The Dark Act Threatens GMO Right-to-Know

You may remember a proposition on the last California election ballot regarding GMO.  Those for the proposition were trying to make mandatory, labeling of genetically modified organisms in food.  It was defeated, due to the corporate giants in agriculture that don't want you to know what you're eating

Ben and Jerry's, the ice cream company, have a web site that always has interesting, thought provoking topics.  Earlier this year they discussed H.R.442, a bill GMO right to know activists are calling the Dark Act.  This act went nowhere in the last Congress, but Mike Pompeo of Kansas, is preparing to reintroduce another bill just like the it this year.  His bill would deny every state in the country the ability to pass GMO labeling laws.  This is lobbyist-drafted legislation that would undo years of work that went into passing GMO labeling laws in Vermont, Connecticut and Maine.  More importantly, it would obstruct the efforts of grassroots movements in dozens of states that are seeking to give citizens the right to know what's in their food.

What's happening across the country is that states are stepping forward to peel back the layers of secrecy that agribusiness and the grocery lobbies would like to maintain by keeping GMO foods unlabeled. Early this year eight states introduced bills that would require the disclosure of GMO's.  As with many issues in American politics, a few powerful corporation with deep pockets are in control.  This does not seem to be a political issue at all, as polls show Republicans and Democrats  supporting GMO labeling equally.

Whether or not you want to buy GMO is not really the issue.  The issue is that there should be accountability in the food industry.  Consumers should know what they're buying and make their own choice.  I don't necessarily want to buy everything organic, but I do feel that labeling produce gives the public the facts, and they can buy what they want.  Let's not let deep pockets by corporations influence Congress.  Bipartisan work in states from coast to coast says our voices can be heard.  If you feel strongly that we have a right to know what's in our food and how it was grown, let someone know.  Call your congressman and tell him/her.  We lost the fight in California last time, but I'm sure it will be on the ballot soon again.

Why So Much Gun Violence?

At a recent Friday morning discussion at Ocean Hills Country Club, we discussed the topic of violence in America.  The question was, "Why are there so many mass murders in the U.S.? "  Of course there is no easy answer to this, but it did get me thinking.  In order to discuss this and any other topic where facts and figures are pertinent, it's necessary to know the discussion questions in advance, so people can get their facts together.  One woman said that there were many other countries that had more guns than the US, but they didn't have the mass murders that we did.  Most of us questioned her statement, but since no one knew the topics before we arrived at the discussion group, no one was really prepared with facts and figures.  I did a little research after the meeting and here's what I discovered.

The United States has more gun ownership by civilians than any other country.  270,000,000 guns are owned by civilians, almost one per person.  We have over 9,900 homicides per year by guns, and 67% of homicides are committed by guns.  We are number one in the world!  That's not a statistic to be proud of.  By comparison, England and Wales is 88th in the world, with 6.6% of homicides committed by guns.  Other countries with very little gun violence are Japan (164th  with 1.8% of homicides committed by guns),  Hungary (6%), South Korea (1.7%) and France 9.5).

On the other hand, there are smaller, less developed countries that have a high percentage of gun violence by civilians.  Venezuela, Brazil, Paraguay, El Salvador, Jamaica, West Bank and Gaza, Sierra Leone and Honduras are just some of the countries that have more than 65% of their homicides committed by guns.

The question is how to interpret this data.  It's difficult to draw conclusions, because industrialized nations like Italy and Switzerland have higher homicide rates than you would think.  ( both over 65% of homicides from guns.)  Bahrain, where 25% of civilians own a gun has 0 homicides from guns, yet Equador, where 1.8% of the people own guns, has 66.7% of their homicides committed by guns.  The statistical table from which I got this information was published in the Washington Post.

Most mass homicides are committed by men with some form of mental illness.  That is true in the U.S., and I suspect it is true elsewhere.  It seems to follow that we need to keep guns out of the hands of citizens with mental illness.  In shooting after shooting it is discovered that the shooter had a history of mental illness.  We need to pass laws to prohibit their ability to purchase guns.  This won't end mass murders, but it will make it more difficult for those that shouldn't have guns to get them.  Is anyone listening? I wrote this several weeks before the latest mass murder in Oregon.

Technology Changes Our Lives In So Many Ways!

There are so many great advancements in technology that have changed our lives that we sometimes forget the things we used to do that have been left behind.  When you start to think of  what we no longer do that we used to do all the time, it will amaze you.  Here's a short list of some of the things I no longer do that I miss.  Life has become easier, but has it become better?

1.  How many phone numbers do you know by heart today?  How many did you know 30 years ago?  We no longer memorize phone numbers, as everything is on speed dial.  We no longer have phone books either.  Everything is stored in our smart phones, and if we don't have a number, it's easy to look up on the web.  Remember when you could find a pay phone on every corner?  Try to find one now.  They barely exist, and I don't think they take money anymore, but tokens, which you probably don't have.

2.  Cursive handwriting.  It's pretty much gone.  Many schools have dropped the teaching of cursive and others are phasing it out.  Students work on a computer or tablet today, so there's no need to learn to write.  In addition, the computer or tablet will correct their spelling, so there is no need to learn to spell. When was the last time you wrote or received a letter?  It doesn't happen much anymore, but it sure is nice when it does.  As I said before, life has become easier, but is it better?

3.  A multitude of things are done electronically today that used to be done by going to the store, bank, or looking in the newspaper.  Paychecks are usually deposited directly in a person's bank account, rather than given out and cashed.  Classified ads in newspapers are pretty much gone.  People use things like Craigslist and other sites to search for jobs or place ads.  Buying a ticket to a play or concert used to be done in person.  You'd go to the venue and get your ticket.  Now, it's all done online.  Shopping too, is done online.  I do much of my shopping online and avoid crowded shopping malls.  Why are malls still crowded?  I'm not sure about that.  We used to stay up late at night to hear the weather report for the following day.  That's not necessary anymore.  Just go to one of the weather sites on your smart phone and you'll instantly have more weather information than you need.

Technology has changed our lives forever.  It has also changed our brains, as some studies show.  Many studies show that we are definitely NOT smarter, but have lost something.  Our ability to remember and recall is no longer necessary.  We can look everything up instantly, so why learn it?  I remember the days when Ron had his accounting practice.  He never had a phone book.  He had over 200 phone numbers on speed dial in his brain.  Today, except for a few numbers, he doesn't have this ability.  It's just not necessary anymore.  Yes, we're moving forward.  We have access to more information and instant answers to questions we want to know the answers to (no more need for encyclopedias), but what have we lost?  To those of us over 50, we know what we've lost.  The younger generation doesn't know, as all they've ever known is computers.

Classic Cars In Encinitas

Several times a year Encinitas brings out it's classic cars and especially Woody's.  Fran and I were walking in Encinitas one Saturday morning as we do almost every week, and came upon this wonderful event.  Beautiful cars, as old as me, but looking like new!  Imagine that!.  The owners of these cars treat them with kid gloves, buff and shine them till they sparkle.  They take such pride in their cars, and we get to enjoy the benefits of their hard work at the several street shows they have every year.

This year, in addition to a wonderful display of cars, they had a bluegrass band and Hawaiian dancers.  Everyone was having a ball, enjoying the music, dancing, cars and food.  If you walk around Encinitas any weekend you are bound to find something new.  The community is growing and changing so fast one can hardly keep up.  A new taco restaurant is going in near Honey's, Better Buzz just opened across from the lumberyard, and about two blocks south, construction is ready to start on a mixed use building.  The building will have four luxury condominiums above, and retail space below, similar to the Whole Foods building, but on a smaller scale.  Yes, Encinitas is changing, not all of this for the good, in my opinion.  More traffic, more congestion, more restaurants and retail outlets are good for business, but bad for those of us that like to keep that "small town" feeling.  Oh well, I guess it's progress.

One Characteristic Of All Millionaires

Napoleon Hill, a journalist and author,  studied over 500 millionaires, including  Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford and Charles M. Schwab, and found out they all had one quality in common:  they all reached decisions promptly.  In addition to making decisions quickly and confidently, they also change decisions, if need be, slowly.  On the flip side,  Hill says, " People who fail to accumulate money, without exception, have the habit of reaching decisions, if at all, very slowly, and of changing these decisions quickly and often."

Decisiveness plays such an important role in accumulating wealth that mastery of procrastination-which Hill defined as the opposite of decisiveness, is an important step toward getting rich..  To become a better decision maker, start by becoming a better listener.  Keep your eyes and ears open, and your mouth closed, if you want to acquire the habit of prompt decision making.  Those who talk too much do little else.

Mastering the ability to be decisiveness can reap incredible rewards.  Since Hill first wrote of this observation almost 80 years ago, others have pinpointed qualities and habits shared by millionaires.  Among them are rising early, exercising regularly, making time to read, and associating with others who are successful.  All millionaires don't possess all these qualities, but most millionaires possess some of these.