I guess it’s time to break my radio silence since the election of Donald Trump as U.S. President. It’s been a lot to wrap my little brain around. Nearly everyone I work with is experiencing some form of PESD. But Post Election Stress Disorder is treatable—and may even be curable with frequent exposure to this blog.

Being a rosy-cheeked optimist, I already see a silver lining in this: good times for rock & roll! Especially for bright, trenchant social commentary that the best songwriters are capable of in times of national crisis. In my last post I predicted that a Presidential election shock would trigger a renascence of rock as a true political force.

Looking back at the last era of disruptive social change—which we are on the cusp of once again—we had Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Joni Mitchell, Marvin Gaye, Neil Young, Jimi Hendrix, and many more to guide us through the choppy waters. These artists spoke out—in different ways—for peace, civil rights, women’s rights, the environment, or, fundamentally, the right to protest.

Speaking of which, crowds—even school children—started hitting the street in cities across America, hours after the election was decided. (I know what you’re thinking: why did it take so long?) They've been protesting not only the election results but random acts of violence against minorities—especially Muslims—that have been recently occurring (including a record-setting 300 hate crimes in the last week).

Now, I believe in giving people a chance, but in this case I’d have to extend that to a President elect whose campaign was steeped in bigotry, xenophobia, nativism, misogyny, and islamophobia. Yet Donald Trump is impulsive and unpredictable enough to change course on a dime. He COULD propose Big Ideas that would actually be valuable and feasible and which COULD win approval from a fawning Congress. (A "yuge" stimulus program to rebuild roads and bridges would be one example.) A figure like Trump could conceivably blow open the ideological log jam and enable some new and productive alliances to be formed.

Unfortunately, as we go to press, Mr. Trump is already picking advisors from Crazy Town. His chief strategist will be a white nationalist, whose right-wing news site is unquestionably anti-Semitic and misogynist. With him guiding the next POTUS, it brings new meaning to the term "White House."

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I’ve been wanting to interview myself to get answers to burning questions about recent topics in the news, but as usual it’s been a challenge to find the time on both our busy schedules. So once again we had to use email. But we were able to complete the interview in less than a week!

Q: What did you think of Bob Dylan winning the Nobel Prize in Literature?

A: Long overdue! His lyrical approach, beginning in the early to mid-60s, changed the whole business model of rock as I’ve alluded to here and here. Lyrics were no longer an afterthought in popular music after Dylan’s arrival in the mainstream. Hit songs could include political and poetic content for years afterwards. Top songwriters (e.g., John Lennon, Paul Simon) took full advantage of it.

Q: Are lyrics still as important?

A: Well, the percussive effect of words, more than their meaning, is absolutely critical to dance, which has been the major trend in popular music for a while. But plain-spoken street talk—including sexual candor—is also part of the equation now, a product of pop and hip-hop “hooking up.” There is artistry involved in that, which can be heard in many of the top singles now. Yet I miss the fact that a song with such surrealistic imagery as Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” could once rule the charts and radio.

Q: How much longer will we be talking about radio?

A: The answer, my friend, is blowing in the airwaves.

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Phil Chess, co-founder of the legendary Chess Records, passed away last week at the age of 95.

Phil and his late brother Leonard turned their small indie label in Chicago into a launching pad for top electric blues artists, and in the process helped pave the way for the development of early rock & roll.

The record company gave us blues greats such as Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf, Little Walter, John Lee Hooker, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Buddy Guy—but also Ike Turner, Etta James, Bo Diddley, and Chuck Berry (arguably the king of rock & roll).

But what intrigues me most about the story of Chess is how the brothers treated (or mistreated) many down-and-out blues singers. It’s a classic narrative that runs through the history of the music biz but especially the early days of blues, R&B, and rock & roll—where record labels, producers, managers, promoters, and agents have long been accused of exploiting their artists, many of them black.

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Over three decades ago I ran an unusual political campaign for the highest office in the land. Looking back on it now, it’s hard to believe I actually did it. I’ve often wondered if alien lizards took control of my brain. But I suppose I should take responsibility for it and admit that the devil made me do it.

The short version of the story is that I appeared on NBC’s Tomorrow Show in 1980 to suddenly announce—four years in advance—that I was a candidate for U.S. President for 1984.

As a result of this appearance on national television, a book contract followed the next day, plus endless radio and newspaper interviews, and I was off and running. I had no illusions about winning, but I guess I wanted to find out what it was like to run for national office—and to show that anyone could in fact run for U.S. President.

I was a rock musician at the time, so I ran a rock & roll campaign—improvising and jamming thoughout. In the end I technically didn’t win (i.e. I didn’t get enough votes—a ridiculous way to measure victory) and Ronald Reagan managed to eke out a 49-state victory. Yet Walter Mondale, who came in second despite spending $27 million, won only ONE more state than I did. And I spent only two hundred dollars (of my own money).

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