B-Sides ...
💿 Cohort 12 in Write of Passage is a wrap. This bootcamp was a big change, with a curriculum that challenged students more than ever to write the essay only they could write, with high quality and individuality.
So many students responded with talent and determination.
Numerous essays come to mind, like the work of Amanda Hasegawa (Hula: A Disruption to Trauma) Rick Lewis (Why You Should Start Living In The Past),and Emily Ann Hill (Societal Pressure Escape Velocity), amongst many others.
Matthew Hurley blew me away with “The End of Something,” an essay about what addiction takes away, but also what addiction prevents from ever being. Matthew tells his story of addiction through the life and passing of his grandfather:
There’s a picture of my grandfather and grandmother at the Marine Corps Ball in what must be the late 1950s.
[…]
They’re both beautiful and young. John has a square jaw, solid cheekbones, and piercing blue eyes. My grandmother’s hair is up. Her pearl earrings shimmer and she’s laughing. My family doesn’t exist yet. This photo is all hope and un-molded clay, out of this we would all come. This photo hangs at my parents’ house. In it is the hope of what could be. As if to say, See, this could have been beautiful.
Incredible work from another incredible group of students.
💿 Recently, I shared my regret in selling off my CD collection. A decade after my poor decision, made in a fever dream of decluttering and moving, I’m building a new empire of shiny plastic discs.
Katie Wojciechowski wrote eloquently about CDs in her piece “I’m Keeping The CDs!,” a guest post on Kevin Alexander’s “On Repeat”:
If music makes life worthwhile and stirs our hearts, then it is indeed a kind of religion, a conduit for the salvation we so desperately crave. And, like any religion, music requires devotion, and commands our attention through physical artifacts. Any good disciple of music will tell you that collecting music’s physical totems—vinyl, cassette tapes, CDs—is one of the most sacred and potent avenues of worship.
It seems, after a long period of minimalism and digitalism (is that an official -ism?), people value physical things again. We saw it in the backlash to Apple’s awful iPad commercial, “Crush,” which felt soul-crushing.
In an eloquent critique of the iPad ad, L. M. Sacasas sums up why we need stuff:
These appear to be the two paths presented to us: one in which the device paradigm colonizes more and more swaths of our experience and we are increasingly reduced to swiping along a glassy surface of endless content, or one in which we refuse the lure of limitless and meaningless consumption and reclaim focal things and practices along with the skills, satisfactions, and community they generate.
My friend Michael Dean (who also owns a typewriter) has forgone Otter to record voice notes on cassette:
So here’s to having stuff, as generators of skill and community. Even Apple can’t take that away from us.
💿 Speaking of stuff and CDs, my CD empire is rising. My daughter and I hit a record and CD show last weekend in Tampa.
I’d say the vinyl-to-CD inventory ratio was at least 15-to-1. That worked for us. We flew in stealth mode, under the 33rpm radar, joyfully raiding the $1 CD bins.
One thing I’ve learned while rebuilding a CD empire: be patient. There are deals to be had.
💿 “Faultless Faithlessness” is one of the more interesting 80s pop music sub-genres. These are songs that try to excuse betrayal by saying, “Look, cheating happens and it’s not your fault.”
I’m not sure why so many songs attempted to explain away infidelity in the 80s—other than it was the 80s, I suppose.
While Ray Parker, Jr. forever reigns lord over this genre, Howard Jones’ “No One Ever Is To Blame” is a crown jewel in the set. (People are to blame, Howard. People.) Love this version with Daryl Hall from the “Daryl’s House” show:
You’ll notice in this video and in Daryl’s House, there is, sadly, no John Oates to be found, what with the restraining order Daryl filed against John and all.
Recently, Oates spoke about their breakup, and shared some insights on making his new solo album.
💿 Ted Gioia’s “The Honest Broker” is one of the best reads on Substack, so it’s no surprise his conversation with Rick Beato, about the state of the music industry (hint: flaming dumpster fire), is loaded with insight.
Ted is so well-read on history and philosophy, and that’s his secret sauce for analyzing current culture.
💿 You may have noticed the new logo thingy for the newsletter. It’s not perfect. But I kinda like it:
It took approximately 27 ChatGPT prompts to get there. How did some of the other attempts turn out, you ask?
Poorly.
For example, I’ve been called this enough times in my life. I don’t need it codified in a logo:
And then ChatGPT got downright snarky. Yes, there’s plenty of BS in Steady Beats. But we don’t need to be so obvious about it.
As if the BS was bad enough, ChatGPT evidently put this CD in the microwave for a few seconds, just to add in the smell of melting plastic.
Later, in a fit of exasperation, ChatGPT started scribbling like an angry 3-year-old with a crayon. You can find any letter you like in this design, including hieroglyphs, if you squint with your head tilted the proper angle:
On and on it went, despite my lengthly prompts and sincere pleadings, until we finally reached an acceptable version. Then we shook virtual hands, and stayed away from each other for a few days to cool off.
Based on my experience, flesh-and-blood designers are safe. Someday, when Steady Beats has tens of thousands of readers, I’ll hire a real human for the next rendition.
💿 That’s it for B-Sides today. Thanks to Garrett Kincaid for the title suggestion.
Thank you, Matt! So appreciated your leadership in WOP and it’s fun to see your love for music
Thanks for the mention!!! I'm so honored!